College Football: Beavers drop OT heartbreaker to Moorhead after late rally

The Minot State football team rallied from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime, but MSU Moorhead quarterback Jack Strand’s fourth touchdown pass of the contest allowed the hometown Dragons to escape with a 40-37 overtime victory on Saturday, Oct. 4.

The Dragons appeared in control following a 5-yard touchdown run by Owen Wiersma that put MSU Moorhead ahead 34-17 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Instead, the Beavers responded with 17 unanswered points to improbably force the overtime session.

The rally started with an 11-play, 72-yard drive, which included a fourth-down conversion at midfield. Evan Lovett capped off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to pull the Beavers within 34-24 with 5:35 remaining.

Minot State got the ball back a minute later and marched another 72 yards, this time in just five plays spanning less than two minutes. Carson Chrisman completed three passes on the drive, with Jonathan Noriega hauling in a 37-yard touchdown with 2:50 left in the fourth quarter.

The Beavers recovered the ensuing onside kick at the Moorhead 42 and drove down to the 10 before Brandon McCary kicked the game-tying field goal as time expired to send the game into overtime.

Minot State (1-5 overall, 1-4 NSIC) received the ball first in the overtime session, starting at the Moorhead 25. The Beavers managed to get down to the 10, but had to settle for another McCary field goal to briefly take a 37-34 lead. McCary converted on five field goals.

The Dragons (4-2, 3-2) needed just one play to win the game as Strand hit Brady Perryman for a 25-yard touchdown. Strand finished 33-for-49 for 382 yards and four touchdowns. Perryman caught six passes for 129 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Beavers rushed for 341 yards on 55 carries. Devan Daniels led the team with 140 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. He opened the scoring with a 72-yard touchdown carry on the second play of the game. Lovett also eclipsed the century mark, rushing for 125 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.

Chrisman completed 6 of 10 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown. Noriega was on the receiving end of four of those passes, amassing 69 yards and a touchdown.

The Beavers return home to host Jamestown on Saturday, Oct. 11, at 2 p.m. at Herb Parker Stadium.

Girls Swimming: Majettes take 2nd at West Fargo Invite

Minot High’s Samantha VonBokern won a pair of events and the Majettes placed second at the 17-team West Fargo Invite at the Hulbert Aquatic Center on Saturday, Oct. 4.

Bismarck Century won the invite with 326 points. Grand Forks (192.5), Fargo Shanley (188) and Bismarck Legacy (174.5) rounded out the top five. Minot North finished with 38 points to place 16th.

VonBokern claimed the 200-yard freestyle in 1 minute, 56.19 seconds, narrowly topping Shanley’s Arianna Hoff, who finished right behind her in 1:56.95. VonBokern also took the 100 butterfly event with a time of 57.86.

The Majettes won three events overall, with Gracyn Bergan claiming the 1-meter diving title with 410.35 points. Maggie Fricke placed fourth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:37.69 and Kirby Quam finished sixth in the 100 backstroke in 1:05.93.

Matching VonBokern’s multiple event victories was both Williston’s Dru Zander and Bismarck High’s Madeline VerDouw. Zander took the 50 freestyle in 24.44 and the 100 freestyle in 53.88. VerDouw grabbed the 200 individual medley event in 2:12.42 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.60.

Other first-place finishers included West Fargo Horace’s Jocelyn Wettlaufer in the 500 freestyle and Brinley Steele of Bismarck Legacy in the 100 backstroke. In the relay events, Fargo Shanley won the 200 medley, Century won the 200 freestyle and Legacy won the 400 freestyle.

Prep Cross County: Minot High wins home Invite at Souris Valley

The Minot High girls cross country team won its first meet of the season, beating out Mandan by eight points to claim its home event at the Minot Souris Valley Invitational at Souris Valley Golf Course on Saturday, Oct. 4.

Minot High’s Kaylee Jackson won the individual race in 19 minutes, 24.77 seconds. The Majettes placed three runners in the top 10. Alyviah Kopp (20:22.24) finished fifth and Scout Ulrickson (20:51.48) finished ninth. Sixteen runners competed for the Majettes.

The girls event featured six teams. Mandan took second with 44 points, followed by Bismarck Legacy (53), Watford City (124), Bismarck High (134) and Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood (158).

On the boys side, the Magicians recorded their first top-five finish of the season, placing fourth with 117 points. Minot North was sixth with 162 points.

Bismarck High won the event with 34 points, followed by Bismarck Legacy (52) and Bismarck Century (57).

Watford City’s Dehico Bocanegra won the event in 16:25.18. Jon Folk was the top finisher for Minot North, placing 11th in 17:29.44. Beckett Fogarty had the best showing for the Magicians with a 16th-place finish in 17:52.61. Xavier Oswald also cracked the top 20, placing 19th in 17:56.18.

Boys Soccer: Magicians, Blue Jays play to scoreless draw

For the first time all season, the Minot High boys soccer team played a scoreless draw on Saturday, Oct. 4, in a match that featured about as much offense as the final score indicated.

Minot High and Jamestown combined for just four shots on goal as both teams settled for a point in the standings as the season enters its final week.

Jamestown goalkeeper Evan Harty finished with three saves and Ian Stewart stopped the only shot he saw for the Magicians.

Minot High (8-3-3 overall, 8-3-3 WDA) has already clinched a spot in the state tournament and currently has 27 points, good for second place in the WDA. The Magicians need just one point in their final two matches to lock up the No. 2 seed. The Blue Jays (5-8-2, 5-8-1) have 16 points and need to win their final two matches and get a lot of help to qualify for the state tournament.

The Magicians play their penultimate match of the regular season on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at home against Dickinson at 7:30 p.m.

NAHL: Tauros take three points in split with Watertown

The Minot Minotauros ran their point streak to three games following a 5-3 victory on Friday, Oct. 3, and a 3-2 shootout loss on Saturday, Oct. 4, against the Watertown Shamrocks.

In the series opener, the Tauros (2-3-2 W-L-OTL-SOL) scored the game’s final two goals to break a 3-3 tie in the third period. Braeden Jockims scored the game-winning goal on the power play with 13:56 remaining and Philip Wiklund netted his first goal of the season with 3:58 left to pick up two points in the standings.

The Tauros battled back from a pair of one-goal deficits in the opening period. Davin Nichols tied the game 1-1 midway through the first and Mario Fate again pulled Minot even with 3:57 left in the first to tie the contest 2-2 heading into the intermission.

Marlen Edwards gave the Tauros their first lead of the game five minutes into the second period on the power play, but the Shamrocks (2-5-0) countered with a power play goal of their own at 10:33 of the stanza.

In the finale, Watertown forced overtime with a power play goal with 1:20 left in regulation when Carter Sproule scored his fourth goal in two games. Sproule also converted his shootout attempt, as did Zach Boren to net the win for the Shamrocks. Fate was the lone goal scorer in the shootout for the Tauros. Lucca Ori missed the net on his attempt and Watertown goaltender Jack Kavetsky made the save on Brady Zugec during his attempt.

Artem Prima and Jakub Habla scored for the Tauros.

Minot travels to Aberdeen on Friday, Oct. 10. Puck drop is at 7:15 p.m.

Women’s Hockey: Beavers open season with series split against McKendree

The Minot State women’s hockey team bounced back from a season-opening 2-1 loss on Saturday, Oct. 4, to salvage a series split with McKendree University with a 3-1 victory on Sunday, Oct. 5, at Maysa Arena.

The Beavers (1-1-0) scored a pair of power-play goals and took advantage of eight McKendree penalties to earn their first win of the season.

Olivia Kirwan opened the scoring at 15:48 of the opening period with assists to Maci Nowosad and Cameron Schmidt. MSU took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, but the Bearcats (4-1-0) would draw even at 3:42 of the middle stanza on a goal from Jayna Barnden.

Journey Miller put the Beavers back in front on the team’s first power-play goal of the contest. Miller lit the lamp just 18 seconds into a hooking penalty by McKendree’s Brooklynne Painter as the Beavers took a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.

Olivia Opheim gave MSU some breathing room with 4:45 remaining in the contest with a second power play goal. It was Painter again serving a penalty, this time for slashing.

The Bearcats held a slight 31-28 edge in shots on goal. Jillian Ackerman made 30 saves to earn the win in net for the Beavers. Rachel Staresinic finished with 25 saves for McKendree.

The Beavers host a two-game series with Maryville University beginning on Friday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m. at Maysa Arena.

Prep Volleyball: Local teams compete at Laker Invite

It was a real who’s who at Des Lacs-Burlington High School over the weekend, as many of the top teams across the state took part in the Laker Invite. The field included Class A No. 1 Thompson, Class A No. 2 South Prairie-Max, Class A No. 5 Carrington, Class B No. 1 Linton-HMB, Class B No. 2 Langdon Area-Munich and six other teams receiving votes in the rankings.

In the end, it was Carrington that won the gold bracket, which swept its four pool play contests against Trenton, Our Redeemer’s, Linton-HMB and May-Port-CG. The Cardinals then defeated South Prairie-Max, Grafton and Central Cass in the gold bracket to win the tournament.

Langdon Area-Munich took third, defeating Grafton. Linton-HMB was fifth, defeating South-Prairie Max.

May-Port-CG claimed the silver bracket with a victory over Park River. Tournament host Des Lacs-Burlington topped Dickinson Trinity to claim third.