SIDNEY, Mont. – The #18 University of Providence men's hockey team fell to #5 Dakota College of Bottineau in a neutral site game in Sidney, Mont. Wednesday evening 6-4.

"We actually played well," head coach Jeff Heimel said. "It went down to the wire. It seemed like literally all game we went down, we tied it, we went down, we tie it, we went down, we tie it. It was back and forth like that. We ran out of time. We win a lot of games against that team if we play the way we did. We just seemed to have some lapses and we couldn't play catch up there at the end."

The game wraps up a three-game road trip for the Argos (5-7). The Argos fell to #1 University of Mary on Monday before defeating #9 Williston State last night. Despite going 1-2, Heimel is pleased with how the team performed this road trip.

"I just think we came out on the losing end," Heimel said. "Sometimes that happens. There's a lot of positives from this week. The endgame obviously is to be a playoff hockey team. We need to continue to learn lessons, but I think we're responding well."

Tonight's game brings their total number of games to 12, which officially qualifies the team for the National Tournament. The Argos are currently ranked #18, two spots out of the National Tournament if the Tournament started today. However the Argos have only played teams ranked in the Top 10, and Heimel believes the ranking system will reward the Argos for their strength of schedule when the time comes.

"To beat Bottineau last week, who's ranked #5, we swept Williston handily and they're ranked in the Top 10," Heimel said. "All of our games have been close against the top seed Mary. I think we're doing the right things. Wherever the chips falls they fall."

The Argos will get another chance to boost their resume this weekend when they host the University of Mary this weekend. They'll take on the Marauders Friday night at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m.

"If Mary is the team that is ranked where they are then we're going to have to beat teams like that to win a National Championship," Heimel said. "The mindset is that we've come close and we've played well against them and we have to finish a couple of those games. Their statement games in a lot of ways for our ability to compete at the level we need to compete at the National Tournament."