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The annual War In Watford weekend always signifies the final games of the preseason between the Minot Minotauros and the Bismarck Bobcats. The 7th iteration of the series was once again a great success at the Rough Rider Center presented by Northern States Fishing Tools in Watford City, ND. This year’s specialty jerseys and festivities paid homage to America’s 250th anniversary. Friday Recap On Friday night, a pair of roughing penalties by Bismarck put Minot on two power plays midway through the 1st period. Zach Palik got the scoring started at 11:55 and Artyom Zhukov hammered home the second Minot goal at 6:47 to put the Tauros up 2-0. Then, with 4:08 left in the opening period, Ivan Sidorov buried the third Minot goal. The Minotauros outshot Bismarck 13-6 through the first 20 minutes. In the 2nd, Bismarck responded right off the bat with a goal 38 seconds in by first line center Cade Bell. Late in the frame, Maddox Malmquist put the Bobcats within a goal with 3:34 left. It was a tale of two periods for the Minotauros. While the Tauros still won the shot total in the 2nd, Bismarck made it a game again heading into the 3rd. Bismarck tied the game four minutes into the 3rd period, their third straight goal since falling behind 3-0. Not even 90 seconds later, Minot’s own Mackley Morelli scored to reclaim the Tauros lead, 4-3. Then, he got back to work halfway through the period with his second goal to give Minot a little insurance. Unsatisfied with a pair of goals, Morelli picked up the natural hat trick with five minutes left in regulation. To put the icing on the cake, Zhukov scored his second of the game with under two minutes to go in regulation for the extra point after the touchdown. Minot took the first game of The War 7-3. Saturday Recap Saturday presented the Tauros with the opportunity to sweep the War in Watford for the first time in the seven-year history of the event. The first period ended 1-1, but again, the shots were heavily in favor of Minot. Bismarck zone entries and defensive zone exits were always heavily contested. In the 2nd period, the deluge of Tauros goals began. Briggs Knott scored two straight goals in the first seven minutes to give Minot a two-goal lead, then, just over a minute later, Joey Dellacroce tipped in a long wrist shot from Patrick McCormick for his first goal of the weekend. Minot controlled the ensuing draw, and a cross-corner pass found Philip Wiklund, who swung a pass right into the slot that was buried on a one-timer from Zach Palik just 10 seconds after the previous goal. Palik’s second of the weekend made it 5-1, but that wasn’t it from Minot. Lucca Ori put home the fifth goal of the period for the Minotauros – all of them coming within nine minutes of each other. A window-dressing goal at the end of the 2nd from Bismarck made the tally 6-2 Minot, and they went right back to work in the 3rd. Cale Carey tipped in a Joey Dellacroce shot from the point midway through the 3rd, and the captain, Dane Ramirez, scored his first of the weekend to make it 8-2 Minot, a score that would hold as final. Minot’s 41 shots overwhelmed Bismarck on Saturday night, and the defensive pressure held the Bobcats to 13 shots in 60 well-played minutes to make it a successful weekend sweep in Watford City. The Tauros have lots of positive momentum heading into the 2026-27 regular season, which gets started this upcoming Friday, September 18th at 7:15pm CT on the road against the Aberdeen Wings at the Odde Ice Center in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Aberdeen played two preseason games over the weekend against the University of Jamestown and the University of Mary, a pair of ACHA teams, to get prepped for the regular season, and they’ll play host to a Tauros team that scored 15 goals in two games and has lots to prove coming into the 2026-27 regular season and Central Division play. You can catch all the action of the Aberdeen opening weekend on NAHLTV.com or listen to the live feed on our Facebook. The 2026-27 Minot Minotauros Home Opening Weekend is only two weeks away on October 2nd and 3rd. Tickets are going quickly, so get yours at tickets.minotauroshockey.com. |
