Weekend Recap 4-15-23

Apr 15, 2023

Austin, MN – The Minotauros came into the weekend in control of their playoff destiny and got the job done early clinching the ninth playoff bid in franchise history with a dominant win on Friday night. Despite seeding still being up I  the air the Tauros coaching staff elected to rest several key players on Saturday night but still hung tough with the Bruins before ultimately falling 2-0.  The weekend split paired with results from the rest of the Central Division sets up a 1-4 matchup between the Tauros and Bruins.

Friday the Tauros jumped out to a 4-0 first period lead with two Joe Westlund goals along with markers from John Emmons and Chase LaPinta.  From there it was the Hunter Longhi show as he matched Austin’s offense in the second and third periods posting a hat trick as the Tauros cruised to a 7-3 victory.

Saturday the Tauros sat 286 points in the stands in playing four Affiliate Players.  The group battled hard through a scoreless first before falling behind 1-0 in the second.  A goal midway through the third made it a 2-0 game and with most of the offense in street clothes the Tauros could not battle back.

The loss coupled with Aberdeen’s sweep of St. Cloud dropped the Tauros to the four seed, and a best-of-five series with the same Austin Bruins the Tauros just played the last two weeks. Game One and Two will be in Austin next Friday and Saturday nights. Then the series shifts to Minot on Friday, April 28th, for Game Three. If necessary Game Four will be in Minot on Saturday, April 29th; and Game Five would then be Monday, May 1st, in Austin.  Tickets for Game Three are already on sale now through the “Tickets” tab atop this page or by visiting tickets.minotauroshockey.com.