By Sean Williams, www.gotauros.com
St. Cloud, Minn. – After ending 2023 strong by pulling off a three-game sweep of the Bismarck Bobcats, the Minot Minotauros will now look to continue their hot stretch as the calendar turns to 2024 and they hit the road for a normal two-game series with the St. Cloud Norsemen this weekend. Following the sweep of their in-state rival, the Tauros are carrying a seven-game win streak into the weekend and have extended their Central Division lead to double digits in points.
With a record of 24-6-1 and 49 points, the Tauros continue to remain in first place of the Central Division and have the third most points in the NAHL up to this point. For the second weekend in a row, the Tauros will take on a team fairly close to them in the standings, as the Norsemen enter play with a 14-9-2 record and 37 points to currently place themselves in third place in the Central Division. Although these two teams have only met for one series so far, that is going to change very quickly as the Tauros and Norsemen are scheduled to have their next four games against each other.
In that one series, the Tauros swept the Norsemen with a 2-1 shootout win on Friday and a 1-0 win on Saturday back on Oct. 21-22 at the Pepsi Rink. In the shootout win, a late third period goal by John Small, his second of the year, was the equalizer before Joel Lehtinen eventually put the Tauros ahead for good with a shootout goal. Brady James came up huge in net, stopping 20/21 shots that night and not letting the Norsemen score once in the shootout. One night later, a second period goal by Niklas Ketonen proved to be the difference as James stopped all 21 shots he faced to secure a shutout win and a sweep for the Tauros.
As the Tauros get ready to welcome 2024, the team is led by Jack O’Hanisain (16 goals, 15 assists) and Lehtinen (9 goals, 22 assists) with 31 points each, followed by Trevor Stachowiak’s 28 points (7 goals, 21 assists), Ketonen’s 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists), and Woogk’s 20 points (9 goals, 11 assists). O’Hanisain’s 16 goals leads the team, followed by 10 goals from Ketonen, 9 goals from Woogk and Lehtinen, and 8 goals from Chad Muller.
25 points from Hagen Moe (10 goals, 15 assists) leads the Norsemen, followed by 23 points from Tyler Dysart (11 goals, 12 assists), 22 points from Michael Coleman (8 goals, 14 assists), and 20 points each from Lucca Munoz (6 goals, 14 assists), Niklas Miller (6 goals, 14 assists), and Kyler Miller (5 goals, 15 assists). The 11 goals by Dysart leads the team, while Moe’s 10 goals, Braden Panzer’s and Coleman’s 8 goals, and 6 goals apiece from Munoz, N. Miller, Andrew Cumming and Gavin Gunderson round out St. Cloud’s top scorers thus far.