Alex Eisen/MDN Magi sophomore Reegan Meyer (maroon) fends off Bismarck High attacker Rodrigue Mugisha (11) in a WDA boys soccer game played earlier this season at the Optimist Soccer Complex in Minot.

Hovering around the .500 mark during the first half of the regular season, the Minot High School boys soccer team couldn’t string together a handful of favorable results to stabilize a turbulent campaign.

But then the temperature began to drop, and the Magicians started to heat up.

Minot (7-4-1, 6-3-1 WDA) went unbeaten in its last four games to close out the regular season with wins over Legacy (2-1), Jamestown (6-0) and Mandan (5-1), as well as a 2-2 tie against West Region regular season champions Century.

The late season push was rewarded with the Magi picking up the No. 3 seed at the WDA Tournament this Saturday in Mandan, where they will play No. 6-seeded Legacy (1-12-2, 0-8-2 WDA) in a state qualifier game.

“We are starting to figure it out,” MHS head coach Creighton Bachmeier said. “Especially with our two guys up front, who we rely on a lot, in Jordin Lennon and Noah Schmidt. They have figured out each other’s tendencies and found new space (to attack).”

Lennon, after a two-goal performance on Tuesday against Mandan, leads the Magi with eight goals on the season. Schmidt has a team-high nine assists to go with his five goals. Courage Amsbury has slotted in six goals.

Anchoring the midfield for the Magi has been senior Cody Burke with three goals and five assists this season. Alongside him has been sophomore Walter Markle, who hasn’t had too much success offensively with one goal and an assist, but he can dictate the flow of the game with Burke.

Protecting junior goalkeeper Braden Cochran has been the likes of Anthony Sodano, Zakory Wagner, Cameron Bolinske and Reegan Meyer. They have produced two shutouts on the year, both against Jamestown. First-year starting goalkeeper Cochran has been busy by making 88 saves.

“We still have a ton of work to do,” Bachmeier said. “It’s a whole new ball game now when you get to the postseason, and we have been there plenty of times, everything gets a little bit tighter. If we don’t mentally come out with the juice and the discipline, then we could very well be done on Saturday.”

The last time the Magi failed to make the state tournament was in 2009. Legacy, having joined the conference in the 2015, has never reached the state tournament before in boys soccer.

If the Magi can keep that streak going, then they will have their own bleak history to face when they get to the season-ending tournament. Minot hasn’t won a first-round game at state since 2013 – losing four straight games by two goals or less.

MHS has taken fifth place at the last two state tournaments.

“We got to continue to compete for each other,” Bachmeier said. “Know that any aerial ball or 50-50 tackle could mean the difference between winning and losing. Our focus is the biggest thing. We have really good, skilled players, but sometimes our focus lacks in certain times during games. We need to continue to bring the right mindset and think through the game a little bit.”

That’s what the Magi have been doing the last couple of weeks, and they will need a similar showing on Saturday to keep their season alive.

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.