Warriors Advance to Semifinals; Fall to Top-Seeded Jamestown
MANDAN, N. D. – Postseason play got underway this weekend as Midland University joined five other teams from the Midwest Collegiate Hockey (MCH) conference for its postseason tournament up in North Dakota. The Warriors, who entered as the 5th seed, earned an opening round win over 4th-seeded and No. 13-ranked Illinois State University, 8-3, on Friday. In the semifinals on Saturday, the top-seeded and No. 6-ranked University of Jamestown was pushed by the Warriors through the opening period but ultimately came away with a 5-1 win to advance to the MCH Championship.
FRIDAY: Midland 8, Illinois State 3
The Warriors jumped out in front early with three first-period goals. Just under two minutes in, Zac Justice weaved his way through the Redbirds' defense and flipped a backhanded shot past the goalie. That was where things would stay up until the final minute of the period.
With less than a minute to go before intermission, Tommy Wardas took a pass from Ryan Donovan and moved to the left of the goalie. As the defense crashed down, Wardas flipped it back to Justice who came through the slot to make it 2-0 with 53 seconds on the first-period clock.
The Warriors were through in the period as Andy Larsen was able to take control of the puck in the neutral zone. As time ticked down, he flipped it backside past the goalie with nine seconds left to put Midland up 3-0 as the teams headed to the dressing rooms.
In the second period, the scoreboard operator had their work cut out for them as each team netted three goals and picked up a combined seven penalties, after playing a clean first 20 minutes.
Midland struck first in the second as they got a quick breakout during the opening shift. Milan Breczko took a pass from Hugo Lukacovic and slapped home the fourth goal of the game from the right of the goalie.
Illinois State finally settled in and after Midland was sent to the penalty box for an interference call, they lit the lamp with a powerplay goal at the 2:03 mark. They added an even-strength goal two minutes later to make it a 4-2 game.
Following a slashing call on the Redbirds, Cody Shearer found the back of the net off a feed from Wardas and Ian McHenry at the 7:18 mark. Donovan got on the board just over two minutes later as Wardas and Justice picked up the assists. It looked like Midland was going to run away with it again as ISU was whistled for tripping right after the Donovan goal. The Redbirds however earned a shorthanded goal during the penalty kill, making it a 6-3 game heading into the final intermission.
In the third, Breczko netted his second goal of the game with assists from Lukacovic and Matthew McCaw. Coming out of a timeout, McCaw collected the puck at the blue line and sent it deep. Lukacovic tracked it down behind the net and wrapped a pass back to Breczko for the added insurance with 7:44 to go.
As the game continued, Zach Eddington found the scoring column, netting a powerplay goal with 2:30 to go. Jared Wisely and Breczko picked up the assists as Midland cruised to an opening round 8-3 win.
Liam Tereposky was back in net for Midland. He earned the win while collecting 31 saves. His counterpart had 24 saves as the Redbirds outshot the Warriors, 34 to 32.
SATURDAY: Jamestown 5, Midland 1
On Saturday, the Warriors met up with the top-seeded Jimmies in the first semifinal match of the day. It was a closely contested game through the early going with the team trading shots. Jamestown picked up a pair of early penalties, one in the first minute and another just past five minutes in, but Midland could not capitalize.
The Jimmies struck through on the offensive end first with a goal at the 9:07 mark. Tough defense and a pair of penalty kills by the Warriors kept the scoring in check as the 1-0 score lasted through the first intermission.
In the middle period, Jamestown netted three goals as its lead grew to 4-0 after 40 minutes of play. They would tack on a fifth goal minutes into the third period, scoring for the second time of the day via a powerplay opportunity. For the game, they had eight total powerplays compared to Midland's four.
The Warriors kept battling throughout, a true testament to the team's desire. At the 7:51 mark of the third, Andy Larsen scored off of an assist from Milan Breczko. After controlling the puck near the boards in the neutral zone. Breczko sent the puck ahead to Larsen who skated down the right side of the goalie. He went nearside just ahead of a crashing defender to keep Midland from being shut out.
For the contest, Liam Tereposky had a stellar game in net with 48 saves on 53 shots (.906). His counterpart picked up 22 saves on 23 shots by the Warriors.
"We were happy with our opening day victory. We played together and within the system," commented head coach Jan Dam. "When we can do those two things, we are a hard team to beat. Saturday's game showed how important it is to have a day of rest. Jamestown is a quality opponent, ranked in the top ten most of the season, and they had a big advantage from being the top seed in the conference."
"This group of seniors will be truly missed," added Coach Dam. "They've been a big part of establishing our culture on and off the ice. The example of hard work and determination they've shown not only our guys in the locker room but our recruits have been tremendous. For the younger guys, and the veterans we have stepping into leadership roles, I look forward to our offseason training as we look to keep building the program. This year was another step in the right direction."
Midland finishes the season with a 12-20-1 record during one of its most challenging schedules in recent history. Next year the bar will remain high with the MCH expanding to possibly 10 teams. Coach Dam and his staff will allow the team to rest up a bit before starting their offseason program as the Warriors look to get back to the ACHA National Tournament in 2024-25.