by Andrew Lennox, gotauros.com Minot, ND – The Minotauros concluded a successful weekend, winning 4-2 to complete the two-game series sweep over the Austin Bruins on Saturday.
Friday, the Tauros jumped to a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the first frame. Captain Trevor Stachowiak capitalized on a Bruins turnover in their defensive end and then put the puck past goalie Trevor Wiemken for his second tally. Minot would soon add to their lead at 11:18 of the period as Chad Muller banked in a rebound from Philippe Lalonde’s shot on goal. Nicholas Sewecke collected the secondary assist. Neither team would score again until Colby Woogk netted a power-play goal with just seven seconds left on the clock. Jordan Gibbs and Will Dawson provided the helpers.
The second period wasn’t as action-filled as the first. However, Austin would get a goal back at 13:49, with Kaden Muir registering his second tally in this year’s campaign to make it 3-1 heading into the third.
Austin wouldn’t score again in the contest as Tauro’s netminder, Brady James, stopped all 10 Bruins shots in the third period. Before picking up the victory, Minot’s Cayden Casey would add an insurance empty net marker to end the game.
Saturday’s game was a penalty-filled affair as the two clubs combined had 13 power play opportunities while tallying just two goals with the man advantage. Austin would kick off the scoring at 6:10 into the first period as Muir scored from the high slot on James. Minot would even the score at 1-1 just 2:31 later, with Woogk netting his second goal of the weekend while Muller and Sewecke provided the assists.
Minot would take the lead early in the middle frame when Lalonde banged in a rebound for his first marker as a Tauro, off a shot from Will Dawson streaking down the wing. Just 27 seconds later, it would be 3-1 as Stachowiak blasted a rocket past Wiemken on a 2-on-1. Austin would cut the lead to 3-2 before the second intermission, scoring a power play goal.
In the final frame of the weekend, the Tauros would finally convert on a power play after not scoring on five previous opportunities in the contest. Jack O’Hanisian was responsible for the special teams tally, putting his team up 4-2. Despite the Bruins pressing late in regulation with a two-man advantage, the Tauros held on to the 4-2 lead to close out the weekend. With the series sweep, the Tauros now sit on top of the Central Division with a 13-3-1-0 record.
Next up, the Tauros stay at home for two more weekends, first, next weekend against the North Iowa Bulls, followed by a Wednesday trip to Bismarck before the Tauros Black Out Black Weekend against the Aberdeen Wings. Fans are encouraged to wear black as the Tauros wear specialty black-out jerseys all weekend long. Tickets for those and all remaining home games are available through the “Tickets” tab atop this page or by visiting tickets.minotauroshockey.com.