ST. CLOUD DEFEATED BY BOBCATS 5-2, AND 4-3 IN EXTRA SESSION
The Matchup: St. Cloud (22-19-6) fell to the second-place Bismarck Bobcats (36-14-1) in a two game weekend series by a score of 5-2 on March. 22 and in an overtime thriller 4-3 on Saturday, March. 23. Both contests were played on the road at VFW Sports Center in Bismarck, N.D.
A Look at the Central: After this weekend, the Norsemen sit in fifth-place in the Central Division with 57 points. Bismarck is in playoff contention as they clinched a second place spot in the Central Division and hold onto 76 points.
Series Review: Bismarck opened up the scoring with a tally from Keanu Krenn at 15:43 mark of the first period. The Bobcats extended the lead to a three goal margin in the second period when they received goals from Mathieu Bourgault, Landon Fandel, and Kade Kohanski. St. Cloud would cut the deficit to 4-1 before the intermission when Peyton Mithmuangneua (Aldergrove B.C./ Cranbrook/BCHL) found Tyler Dysart (Sunnyvale Calif./ New Jersey/ NCDC) in the slot for his 16th goal of the season. In the final stanza, both teams would find the back of the net. Evan Hunter struck first for BIS to make the score 5-1 at 6:21 of the third. Rhys Wallin (Wayzata, Minn./ Wayzata H.S.) would finish the contest scoring his second goal of the season, the Bobcats would take game one by a final score of 5-2.
In game two, Bismarck jumped out to a three goal lead with goals from Kohanski, Tommy Cronin and Matthew Rafalski. The Norsemen would come storming back with three goals of their own from Braden Panzer (Grand Forks, N.D./Niverville/MJHL), Hagen Moe (Grand Rapids, Mich./Springfield/ NAHL), and Mithmuangneua. It was the Bobcats, who knotted the game winner off the stick of Hunter who netted his second goal of the series and the eventual game winner. Bismarck would win the game via the extra session 4-3.
Between The Pipes:
In game one, Ryan Manzella (Eagan, Minn./Sioux Falls Power/TIEHL U18) made 19 saves on 24 shot attempts. Bobcats Goaltender, Klayton Knapp made 31 saves in the victory.
In game two, Max Weilandt (Northbrook, Ill./Dubuque/USHL) would turn aside 20 of 24 shots. For Bismarck, Stephen Peck made 33 total saves.
Up Next on the Schedule:
The Norsemen will face the Minot Minotauros on March 29-30 when they begin a road series at Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena in Minot, N.D. Both games will begin at 7:35 p.m. (C.T.)
Dain Solberg, Media Relations Intern