From Jamestown Sun
By Maxwell O’Neill
The Jimmies look to win their first season opener since Sept. 22, 2017, when they beat the Midland Warriors 5-2. The University of Jamestown open their 2021 season against the Minot State University Beavers in what the Jimmies hope is a season that ends in glory. The two teams face off at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 30, at John L. Wilson Arena.
This game won’t be easy though as they have lost five of their last six to the Beavers, including the last two, putting together a record of 14-32-3.
The Jimmies last win in the series came back on March 18 when they got a commanding 7-3 win. The last time the Jimmies welcomed the Beavers to Wilson Arena was on April 6 when the Beavers left with a 5-2 win. The last time that the Jimmies beat the Beavers at Wilson Arena was on Jan. 16 when they won 3-1.
The team will be relying on a steadying presence in the net, sixth-year senior Tyson Brouwer. Last year, Brouwer played the majority of the games for the Jimmies, compiling an 11-12-2-1 record in 28 games with a 3.11 goals against average and a .915 save percentage.
UJ will have to find more scoring depth this season as they lost their second-leading point producer Tyler Chavez Leech from last season. In doing that they will be hoping for a big performance from a large freshman class, with four making their way onto the Division 1 team and another six finding their way onto the Division 2 team.
The Division 1 team also has 17 sophomores, which fourth-year head coach Dean Stork hopes will help slay the dragon that is the Minot State Beavers.
“Well I’m hoping we have a little bit more experience with the freshman class last year, ” Stork said. “Hopefully they’ve learned and can build from that and can carry that on against Minot this year and have a little bit of a different story.”
The season will be an exciting one for Stork both on and off the ice.
“Just being around the guys. That is the (most) fun part, having fun with the boys and the staff and having fun on road trips; the team bonding, gelling,” Stork said. “I’m looking forward to my son who is now 15 months, Jace Dean, actually comprehending watching games now. Yeah, it’s gonna be a fun year.”
The expectations coming into this season for the Jimmies are very simple: make the national tournament.
“We want to be ranked in the top 18 to get to the national tournament,” Stork said. At orientation, there’s a discussion with the players about expectations and goals, and the long-term goal is to get to the national tournament.
”’… anything can happen in a four-game elimination tournament,” Stork said. “So hopefully at that time we’re healthy, we have a little bit of luck on our side, and we’re playing at our highest peak possible. That’s our long-term goal this year is just getting into the tournament.”
(Originally published at https://www.jamestownsun.com/sports/7216599-Jimmies-look-to-get-back-to-the-ACHA-national-tournament)
