From Minot Daily News
By Sean Williams
Gearing up for their stretch of four games before winter break, the Minot State men’s hockey team welcomed the Central Oklahoma Bronchos to the Maysa Arena for the final series before some deserved time off.
Heading into the premier series with the Bronchos (18-3-0 overall), the Beavers (14-1-0 overall) had to deal with some adversity which has not been a familiar feeling in 2022-23. The UMary Marauders handed the Beavers their first loss of the season last Saturday, so seeing how the team responds was of vital importance with an incredibly tough opponent coming to Minot in Central Oklahoma.
It’s not just the Beavers, however, who will try to respond positively to adversity in this series as the Bronchos enter the weekend coming off a loss to the University of Jamestown in their last game.
Before their recent fate was determined, this was one of the best American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) matchups that fans would see this year. Now, both teams had a lot more to play for and a lot to prove coming off a recent skid, making the series even more important.
On Friday night, it was the Beavers who held the advantage moving into the series-deciding game on Saturday. With their eyes set on a massive sweep, the Beavers would explode for five goals in the third period as they topped the Bronchos 7-2 on Saturday night.
Feeling like they never left the ice after Friday night’s win, the Beavers put heavy pressure on the Bronchos starting goaltender in Doug Wakelyn. Holding the puck in their offensive zone for an extended period, it felt like the Beavers were ready to break the scoreless tie, it was only a matter of when.
Carter Barley would do just that, taking a perfect behind the net pass from Landyn Cochrane to give the Beavers a 1-0 lead with 8:25 left in the period. A few minutes later, the Beavers would add to their lead, taking advantage of a flustered Wakelyn.
Struggling to locate the puck after a fury of close shots, Davis Sheldon would surprise Wakelyn with a top-shelf shot that hit the back of the net, extending the Beavers’ lead to 2-0 with 5:19 left in the opening period.
It wasn’t solely on offense that the Beavers had a firm grip on the game. Defensively, they shut down the Bronchos, only allowing them to get one shot on goal at the midway point of the first period.
They would continue holding the Bronchos scoreless, as the Beavers took their 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Despite being able to develop a little more of an offensive game moving towards the end of the period, Beavers goaltender Jake Anthony stopped all seven shots he faced.
It was clear a lot was on the line for both teams, as there was an edginess shown on the ice with a variety of roughing penalties and exchanged words during stoppage of play. The Beavers, however, were doing more than just exchanging words as they had the advantage on the scoreboard moving into the second period.
With a team as talented as Central Oklahoma, they could never be counted out despite the lead the Beavers built. In period two, the Bronchos would make their words come to fruition, as they tied the game at 2-2 on goals by Leeam Tivers and Jordan Srgo with the latter coming near the halfway point in the period.
All the sudden, it felt like a new game as momentum began building heavily on the Bronchos’ side. With the Beavers looking to secure a sweep and the Bronchos looking to avoid it, there was one period to go as these two top-five ranked teams were getting ready for a thrilling finish.
For Minot State, the finish was thrilling. For Central Oklahoma, it was one to forget as the Beavers scored five goals in the third period to boost the team to a sweep. Josh Pederson scored twice, while Brayden Pawluk, Sheldin Howard, and Drew Carter all got involved in the scoring as the Beavers poured it on in the final period.
Helping the Beavers secure a sweep and a 7-2 win on Saturday night was goaltender Jake Anthony, who stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced. In their two-game series, the Beavers outscored the Bronchos 15-3 and couldn’t have drawn up a better response to their first loss of the season.
It will be quite a bit of time before the Beavers are on the ice again with their next scheduled game set to take place on the road at Midland University on Jan. 6 for a 7:30 p.m. start. Their next home game will be on Monday, Jan. 9 when they host Colorado State University at 7 p.m.
(Originally published at https://www.minotdailynews.com/sports/local-sports/2022/12/beavers-net-five-in-third-secure-huge-sweep-of-bronchos/)
