Laven's one-timer got the ball rolling
Anderle's slapper handcuffs the Jackets goalie
Anderson scores it all by himself
Buffalo swarms Ben Zitur after collecting the shutout
The Buffalo Bison rebounded from their first conference loss of year to beat the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets Thursday night. The Bison remain at the top of the Mississippi-8 conference with twelve points.
Sophomore goaltender Ben Zitur got his first varsity start, win, and shutout of his career and junior Jake Ramsey had three points for the Bison. Zitur made some key saves early in the game as the Bison looked for their legs. Zitur kept the Bluejackets off the board and helped stabilize the Bison back-end through the opening period.
Coach Rory Dynan had high praise for his sophomore goalie. “Ben showed no nerves and played really steady when his teammates weren’t at their best. He continues to improve and overcome last season’s injury.”
After a scoreless first period, Buffalo opened the second on a 5-on-3 power-play and it took the Bison just 13 seconds to strike. Senior defenseman Justin Laven (5-3-8) took a Gunnar Goodmanson (18-8-26) feed and fired a one-timer from the high slot for the goal. Ramsey (6-18-24) picked up the second assist on the goal.
Senior captain Wilson Anderle (7-7-14) continued his solid season scoring on a heavy slapshot as the second power-play expired. Ramsey and senior Casey Anderson (4-5-9) picked up assists. From there the Bison dominated play allowing only a handful of shots while piling it on versus eighth-grade goalie Logan Hyland.
The Bison scored two more goals in the second period. Anderson beat three Bluejackets on a near end-to-end rush and potted a wrister off the far post and into the net. Ramsey stole the puck from the Jackets on the forecheck and fired a quick-wrister to beat Hyland.
The Bison started the third on the power-play and fan-favorite Jesse Sullivan knocked home his first goal of the season. Goodmanson and Jerame Scheutzle connected a give-and-go play as Goodmanson sniped his 18th goal of the season.
Coach Dynan was explained the Bison’s second period surge, “We challenged their manhood a little bit and we questioned the competitiveness after the first. To their credit, the team responded to the coaches’ challenge.”
The Bison host the Brainerd Warriors, section 8AA adversaries, on Saturday night. Game times are 5:00 and 7:00.
