Top-Ranked Minot State Too Much to Handle for Warriors
FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University was back in action on its home ice on Friday and Saturday as No. 1-ranked Minot State University came to town. The Warriors fought hard against the highly skilled and deep Beavers' team but ultimately fell 8-2 and 8-0 on the weekend inside Sidner Ice Arena.
MINOT STATE 8, MIDLAND 2
Minot State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening period with goals at the 1:55 and 14:37 marks and took that lead into the first intermission. In the second, they had a squall-like run of goals as they tacked on four goals in just under five minutes of game time.
At the 10:03 mark of the second, Midland finally broke through the Beavers' defense as Zach Eddington netted a goal from Logan Wotton. Three minutes later, Milan Breczko found the back of the net with an unassisted goal to chip into the Minot State advantage.
In the final period, the Beavers took advantage of a pair of power-play chances. They put the puck in the net twice on their way to an 8-2 final score.
Liam Tereposky was dealt the loss for Midland. He had 38 saves in net for the Warriors while his counterpart collected 16 saves. Minot State took advantage of both of its power-play chances while Midland went 0-2.
MINOT STATE 8, MIDLAND 0
In the series finale, the teams battled throughout the first period. Minot State was able to net a goal in the first five minutes before Midland's defense clamped down. The score would remain a one-goal advantage for the Beavers through the first intermission and for 15 minutes into the second.
Just past the 15-minute mark, Minot State was able to wear the Midland defense down as they fought to kill a five-minute major call. At the 15:06 mark of the period, the Beavers scored on the power play to make it 2-0.
That score started a waterfall of chances for the visiting team. They tacked on goals at the 15:51 and 16:27 marks of the second to take control of the game. Despite playing a man down for an extended period, Midland got up a healthy amount of shots. Minot State's goalie was able to collect all 13 of the shots on net though to preserve his shutout attempt.
In the final period, the Beavers came out of the dressing rooms on a mission. In the first minute of action, they were able to get two shots into the back of the net. As the period continued, they added a pair of power-play goals at the 8:15 and 16:16 marks to seal the game's outcome and a final score of 8-0.
Nahuel Veyan suffered the setback for the Warriors in net. He finished the game with 34 saves on the night while Minot State's netminder finished with 22.
"While we are a competitive group that hates losing more than we like winning, there are a lot of things we can take from this weekend," commented head coach Jan Dam. "A lot of credit goes to Minot. They are an excellent team. I thought we hung with them more than what the scoreboard showed. We had a pair of solid outings from our keepers. We'll look over the film as a coaching staff this weekend and start prepping for next weekend's games. We've got a hungry group of guys in our locker room who are putting in the work during the week. There's not another group of guys I'd want to go to battle with."
Midland (9-15-1, 8-6-1 MCH) will look to get back in the win column next weekend when Illinois State (15-11-2) comes to town. This will be the first meeting of the season for the Midwest College Hockey (MCH) foes. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, January 26 and 27, in Fremont.