The excitement at Maysa Arena was palpable at Maysa Arena Thursday night. The student section was filled to the brim more than an hour before puck drop for Minot High School’s crucial semifinal matchup against the visiting Bottineau-Rugby. The prize on the line was the chance to meet Bismarck Century in the West Region Championship game scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 20.

The student population arrived decked out in red, white and blue in honor of ‘Magimania’ night, and let out a roar to welcome their team onto the ice for pregame warmups. Minot, coming off a dominant 4-0 victory over the Dickinson Midgets two nights prior, knew it faced a tough test against Bottineau.

Ian Amsbaugh and Colton Getzlaff led the visitors into the Magic City, riding point streaks of eight and six games, respectively. Amsbaugh has wreaked havoc on the opposition all season, boasting 23 points since Jan. 18 and 40 overall this year, good for fourth-most in the state.

For the Magi, goaltender Tre’ Sortland has been nearly unbeatable as of late. His shutout of the Midgets built upon an impressive stretch in which the 6′ goalie had stopped 92 of 97 total shots that came his way in his last six contests.

As they had in their last game against Dickinson, the Magicians came out of the gate with fire in their eyes. Derwin Hauser, who potted a short-handed tally for Minot’s final score against the Midgets, took a feed from Caelton Eslinger and Gabe Thongphet and found the back of Bottineau’s net just 90 seconds after the opening whistle. Thongphet’s helper served as his third point in his last three games after he registered a goal and an assist in the season finale Feb. 9.

Following a failed power play chance, the Magi still held a 1-0 lead and an 8-1 advantage in the shot column when a timeout was called with just over 10 minutes left.

As the clock ticked toward the nine-minute mark, Minot was afforded another quality scoring chance. Jacob Theis ripped a one-timer past Bottineau netminder Tyler Olson to double the Magi’s lead with eight minutes and 29 seconds remaining in the frame. His third goal of the season was assisted by Thongphet and Jayden Luck, and the home squad brought their 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

The offensive fireworks for both squads had just gotten started, thanks to a pair of Bottineau penalties near the beginning of the middle frame. Minot got the benefit of the period’s first power play thanks to a penalty from Matt Olson 41 seconds in. As it turned out, though, the penalty kill was exactly what Bottineau needed to find its offense.

Amsbaugh continued his torrid offensive play, nabbing possession of the puck and skating down on a breakaway. He wristed it past Sortland, and the short-handed score, his sixteenth of the year, halved Minot’s lead just 12 seconds after the initial penalty call.

Another penalty from Bottineau, this time a tripping call on Riley Rybchinski 21 seconds after the score, gifted the Magi a 5-on-3 chance for one minute and 28 seconds. They cashed in almost immediately, adding two power play goals in the next minute and 44 seconds from Aiden Morelli and Bryce Hall. Zachary Diehl and Luck provided the aid on the two scores, respectively.

Minot later found themselves down six men to five on a delayed penalty with just under 12 minutes left, and Riley Biberdorf slapped the puck past Sortland for his third score of the year with 11 minutes and 41 seconds left to again cut the Magi lead in half, 4-2.

The Magicians shrugged off the score and went back to work, eventually finding the back of the net once more in the period thanks to Hall’s second goal of the game with just over four minutes left in the frame. Eslinger and Dawson Knudson helped Hall out on the goal, and the Magi entered the final period grasping a 5-2 lead.

The third period was relatively quiet, until Luck’s empty net goal with 2.8 seconds remaining in the contest, sealing the 6-2 victory for the Magi, in which Minot outshot Bottineau 29-16. 10 different Magi skaters found the scoresheet Thursday night, led by Luck’s goal and two assists. Hall also finished with a multi-goal game for Minot, and Thongphet added two assists.

With the win, Minot advanced to the West Region Championship game against Bismarck Century, who narrowly prevailed against Williston 4-3 in overtime earlier in the evening. The Magi also clinched a spot in the state tournament, and due to COVID-19 protocols, it will be the first time the first round of the state tournament will be hosted by the two higher seeds, so Minot will be back in action at Maysa Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 23.

The Magi and Bismarck Century, meanwhile, will play for the West Region title at Maysa Arena at 4 p.m. Feb. 20, as Minot will be in search of its first regional tournament title since 2006.