ST. CLOUD OUTSCORED 10-3 THIS WEEKEND
The Matchup: St. Cloud (19-15-4) fell to the first place Minot Minotauros (33-11-1) in a home series inside the friendly confines of the St. Cloud Municipal Athletic Complex at Torrey Arena by scores of 5-1 and 5-2 on Feb. 16-17.
A Look at the Central: After the sweep, the Norsemen will fall to fifth place in the Central Division. Minot will stay on top with the two victories this weekend and will go into next weekend holding onto 67 points.
Series Review: In game one, Minot found the net three times in the first two frames courtesy of Adam Mahler, Niklas Ketonen and Joel Lehtinen. In the final stanza, Ian Spencer and Jack O’Hanisain finalized the scoring for the Minotauros. For St. Cloud, Lucca Munoz (Chicago, Ill.) scored the lone goal for the Norsemen in the 5-1 defeat.
In game two, Minot forward Ian Spencer lit the lamp for his second goal of the series. Will Dawson added onto the first period lead at the 18:55 mark of the first period to go into the break leading 2-0. In the second period of play, Michael Coleman (Grand Forks, N.D.) cut into the deficit to make the contest 2-1. It would be Minot that would begin an offensive explosion with goals from Trevor Stachowiak, Colby Bear and John Small. Leading scorer Hagen Moe (Grand Rapids, Mich.) would score the second goal of the game for St. Cloud late in the third period ending the weekend with a 5-2 loss.
Between The Pipes:
Game 1: Ryan Manzella (Eagan, Minn.) made 24 saves while facing 27 shots. Brady James made 27 saves in the Friday night victory for Minot.
Game 2: Max Weilandt (Northbrook, Ill.) turned aside 31 of 36 shots. For Minot, Lukas Swedin made 27 saves in the victory.
Up Next on the Schedule:
The Norsemen will begin a home-and-home series with the North Iowa Bulls on Feb 23-24. St. Cloud will host the Bulls at the St. Cloud Municipal Complex at Torrey Rink for a 7:00 P.M. (C.T) puck drop. On Saturday, the Norsemen will travel to Mason City Arena for a 7:10 P.M. (C.T) contest on Saturday Feb. 24.
Dain Solberg, Media Relations Intern