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Beavers overwhelm Tetons 8-1

Ryan Ladika/MDN Junior defenseman Connor Schuster (10) dials up a wrist shot from just above the far circle in the first period.

At long last, the Minot State men’s hockey team finally returned to the ice after a 40-day hiatus for a Thursday night matchup against the visiting Williston State Tetons at Maysa Arena.

The last time the Beavers saw action, they had wrapped up a 5-1 road win over Jamestown on January 5. Head coach Wade Regier stressed before the game how excited the club was to return for the second half of the team’s campaign.

Minot State entered the contest looking to shake off any rust that built up over the holiday break and continue their hot start to the season. At 8-1 overall, the Beavers benefitted from strong defensive play from a number of young players to win their final four games before the pause.

Once the puck dropped, Minot State hid any rust it accrued during the suspension incredibly well. After surviving an early Williston State power play just a minute and 32 seconds into the game, MSU saw its first real scoring chance of the game.

Forward Jordan Robertson led his team into the offensive zone along the near boards and provided Eric Soar with a beautiful pass in stride in the middle of the near circle.

Soar had his teammate Justin Metcalf with him on the other side of the net and made an equally-gorgeous pass across the crease to Metcalf’s waiting stick. The Winnipeg native had an open net and didn’t miss. With a quick flick of the wrist he pushed the Beavers out to a 1-0 lead on their first shot of the game four minutes and 45 seconds into the opening period.

Williston answered the early score with one of its own with just over 11 minutes left in the frame, and the score remained knotted up at one goal apiece until the final seconds.

With Minot State on the man advantage to close out the first period, a scrum in front of the net manifested and MSU’s captain, Blake Fournier, chipped the puck past an unsuspecting Tetons netminder as time expired. With no replay booth in Toronto to turn to, the officials ruled the goal would stand, giving the Beavers a 2-1 lead entering the first intermission.

Minot State seized control of the game in the middle period, dominating the time of possession and adding two more tallies, both on the power play, to balloon their lead to 4-1.

With just over nine minutes left in the frame, a picture-perfect, long-range shot from Soar from just inside the blue line found its way through traffic and into the back of the cage. Robertson and Rhett Lough assisted on the play.

The goal, Soar’s second of the season, gave him and Robertson two points each on the night, and Lough cracked the scoresheet for the first time.

The Beavers weren’t finished in the period, as the club again produced last-minute fireworks on the power play. Davis Sheldon was the catalyst, crossing the blue line first along the near side. He skated in a few strides before finding Carter Barley crossing in front of the net. Barley deposited another flawless pass home, and the Beavers entered the second intermission with a three-goal lead and a 28-11 advantage in shots.

Minot State would not be satisfied in the final stanza. Another Beavers pass across the crease to Davis Sheldon resulted in MSU’s fifth goal of the evening, but it wasn’t even the most interesting event of the first three minutes of the period.

Doyle and the Tetons’ Campbell Jackson collided behind Williston State’s net, and a late hit by Brendan Jay on the Beavers’ defenseman resulted in a fistfight. Jay and Doyle both received game misconducts and were ejected from the game.

Three more Minot State goals were later scored in the third, one by Barley, one by Connor Schuster, and another by Sheldon to ice the 8-1 Beavers win.

For Barley, the two goals build upon an already impressive first season. The 6’2″ forward potted his fifth and sixth tallies of the season, as well as assisting twice, catapulting him into a tie for the team lead in goals and extending his team-leading point total to 17. Coach Regier sung the freshman’s praises before the game, pointing to his remarkable performance as a huge part of the team’s hot start.

Minot State is scheduled to return to action Saturday night in the first game of a home-and-home against Jamestown at 7 p.m.

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