by: Andrew Lennox, gotauros.com
Austin, MN – Before this weekend’s series, the Minot Minotauros last met the Austin Bruins on November 11th. Since then, the Tauros have won four of seven contests and have held on to first place in the Central Division, while Austin has struggled, dropping three of six games.
On Friday, at the 13:19 mark of the first frame, Bruins’ Alex Laurenza netted his 11th marker of the season, beating Tauros’ starting netminder Brady James. Gustev Noren and Austin Salani collected the assists. Colby Woogk would even the score with three minutes left in the period as he sniped blocker-side top corner on Bruins’ goalie Tren Wiemken. Jack O’Hanisian provided a beautiful feed to set up Woogk for the marker while Cayden Casey collected the secondary assist.
In the second period, the Tauros jumped to a 2-1 lead at the 16:51 mark when Niklas Ketonen picked up a rebound just above the crease and chipped the puck over a sprawling Wiemken. O’Hanisian recorded his second assist, while defenseman Rylan Jockims picked up his first assist in the contest.
Protecting a 2-1 lead going into the final frame almost turned into a disaster for the Tauros as they logged three penalties in a four-minute span. Bruins’ Ocean Wallace scored on a wrap-around attempt on the power play. Right after the goal, one of the referees charged Adam Mahler with a holding call, and Austin went right back on the power play. Austin Salani scored immediately, putting the Bruins on top at 12:01 of the period.
Minot was running out of time until Austin’s Jackson Luther was called for tripping with 4:17 left in regulation. The Tauros capitalized on the opportunity, with Woogk striking for the second time on a one-timer from the point-off of a pass from Trevor Stachowiak at the 3:03 mark. Shortly after, with just 13.1 seconds left on the clock, John Emmons scored on a beautiful backhand from the high slot, putting Minot up 4-3. Casey and Stachowiak earned the assists.
With barely any time left in regulation, Austin could not mount a comeback, and the Tauros snatched a 4-3 victory.
On Saturday, Minot grabbed a 1-0 lead at 9:05 of the first frame. Colby Bear cashed in on a rebound after George Peterson shot from the point. For Peterson, the assist was his first point. Jordan Gibbs provided the second helper for his third this season. Before going into the first intermission, Minot padded their lead as a scrum ensued in front of Wiemken’s crease. John Emmons picked up the puck and put it past the Bruins’ netminder for his fourth goal. Casey collected the assist.
4:12 into the second period, Woogk put the Tauros up 3-0, ripping another blast just above the circles to beat Wiemken. Woogk scored three goals over the weekend and now has nine markers on the year. Finally, at the 5:15 mark, Austin solved goalie James Norton as Damon Feruseth scored his third goal this season, making it 3-1. The Bruins would narrow the gap to 3-2 just 1:15 later. Jackson Rilei was credited with the tally. Unfortunately for Austin, the Tauros answered quickly, with Jack O’Hanisian scoring his 13th tally. Niklas Ketonen supplied the assist midway through the third frame.
Austin made a final push with 2:22 left in regulation as they pulled Wiemken for an extra attacker. Their effort came short, and the Tauros logged a 4-2 win and a weekend sweep.
Next up, the Tauros return home to take on the North Iowa Bulls on Friday and Saturday nights to close out the first half of the season before the NAHL Christmas Break. Saturday night’s game is the annual SCHEELS Teddy Bear Toss, where fans are encouraged to bring a new or gently used stuffed animal and throw it to the ice when the Tauros score their first goal of the night. The stuffed animals are then distributed to a number of causes around the Minot community, including the Domestic Violence Crisis Center, Project Bee, Minot PD, Path ND, and more. Tickets for both games are available in the Tauros Hockey Tauros Hockey Mobile App, through the “Tickets” tab atop this page, or by visiting the Tauros ticketing site.