Beavers ground Oregon in 8-1 victory
Trending
Treating Oregon more like ducks in a barrel than ones on the ice in Thursday's 11-2 shellacking at the Maysa Arena, No. 1-ranked Minot State had their sticks locked and loaded as they aimed to put together a repeat performance in the second game of the teams' first-ever series on Friday night.
Taking over the top spot this week in the Men's American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Poll, the still undefeated Minot State University Beavers (10-0-0) are on a ten-game heater heading into the second game of a three-game series with the visiting Oregon Ducks (3-3-0).
Putting on an absolute scoring clinic during the first ever meeting between the two teams on Thursday night were the Beavers, who saw Joey Moffat, Josh Pederson, Reid Arnold, and Sheldin Howard net two goals each, with Jay Buchholz, Reece Henry, and Christian Kadolph scoring one apiece to bring the Minot State total on the night to eleven.
Working in the crease, Beavers goalie Jake Anthony piled up 23 saves on 25 shot attempts to effectively shut down any comeback efforts by the Ducks.
Fighting off bitter cold temperatures made worse by the blistering wind chill outside, fans hustled briskly into the warmer confines of the Maysa Arena to witness the two adversaries taking to the ice for a contest that had a tenser feel after a chippy ending to the previous night's matchup.
As anticipated, Oregon took to the ice with a chip on their shoulders and a noticeable edge after tempers flared and several scuffles occurred in the closing ten minutes of an already-sealed victory for the first-place Beavers on Thursday.
Neither team shied away from the physical play dominating the whole of the first period, resulting in two penalties by each team, yet neither could capitalize on their power play advantages.
Ironically, the opening score of the game would come via a short-handed goal by Beavers center Davis Sheldon at the 8:31 mark courtesy of an assist by Carter Barley to give Minot State a 1-0 lead.
With just 2:55 left until the first intermission, a precision passing sequence originating with Christian Kadolph made its way to Eric Soar, who managed to put a shot on goal that was deflected into the Oregon net by Sheldin Howard for his fourth goal of the season and giving Minot State a 2-0 advantage heading into the second period.
Still within striking distance but unable to muster up any sustained offensive pressure to begin the next 20 minutes of play, the Ducks once again found themselves on their defensive heels.
Doing their best to fight off an unrelenting Beavers barrage of shots, the cracks in a weary Oregon defensive unit finally gave way, in turn allowing in a flood of four goals in the final half of the second period.
A breakaway goal by Howard, a textbook one-two shot by Drew Carter from Barley, a hat-trick sealing goal by Howard from Connor Navrot, and a slap-shot blast by Landyn Cochrane assisted by Barley and Carter swelled the Beavers lead to 6-0 before the whistle blew on the second period.
Notching three assists by the end of the first 40 minutes of action, Barley ballooned his assist total on the season to 13 with one period of play remaining.
Coming out for the final third of the contest, tempers were fiery enough to melt the ice and patience was stretched as tight as the goals’ nets.
However, cooler heads prevailed, while the Beavers' shooting remained scorching hot.
Minot State winger Reece Henry added two goals to the Beavers total to stretch the advantage to 8-0 before the Ducks ended Riley Wallace's shutout on a Nathan Hannon score to bring the final to 8-1 for Minot State's eleventh win of the season.
Tonight at 7:30 p.m., Minot State looks to solidify a sweep of Oregon as they battle the Ducks in the final matchup of their inaugural three-game series at the Maysa Arena.