NORSEMEN FALL TO MINOT IN SWEEP
The Saint Cloud Norsemen fell to the Minot Minotauros in a two game road series on Friday October 20 and Saturday October 21 by scores of 2-1 (shootout) and 1-0.
STC now sits in fifth place in the North American Hockey League Central Division. The Norsemen are tied with the Bismarck Bobcats who both have 14 points.
Game 1-
After a scoreless first period, Lucca Munoz (Chicago, Ill.) got STC on the board first with a goal 6:55 into the second period. Munoz tallied his fifth goal of the season. Minot responded in the third period of play tying the contest at one. Both teams played a hard fought overtime period where no one prevailed. Joel Lehtinen ended things for Minot when he lit the lamp in the first round of the shootout.
Ryan Manzella (Eagan, Minn.) stopped 29 of 30 shots. For the Minotauros, Brady James made 21 saves.
Game 2-
Despite the Norsemen putting 21 shots on netminder Brady James they could not find the back of the net. Niklas Ketonen scored the lone goal for the Minotauros at 11:46 of the second period. In the third period, STC pulled goaltender Max Weilandt (Northbrook, Ill.) to try to capitalize with an extra attacker but would not prevail taking the loss.
Max Welandt made 33 stops on 34 shots. James notched the shutout for Minot after facing 21 shots from Saint Cloud skaters.
Next on the Schedule-
Saint Cloud will play a home-and-home series against the North Iowa Bulls on October 27 and 28. Game one will be played at Mason City Arena. Game two will return home to the friendly confines of the Saint Cloud Municipal Athletic Complex. Puck drop game one will be at 7 p.m. game two will get underway at 7:10 p.m.
Dain Solberg, Freelance Writer