It’s not the match they were looking to win when the Minot High boys soccer team arrived in Mandan for the state tournament, but it will get a chance to play one final contest this season as a result.

Minot High took on the Jamestown High Blue Jays as part of the consolation semifinals in the 2025 NDHSAA Boys Soccer State Tournament held in Mandan. The Magicians ended their bid for state champion a day earlier in their quarterfinals match against the Shanley High School Deacons. Minot dropped the match after the Deacons scored the first and only goal of the match in the 74th minute. The goal went unanswered and left the Magicians to fight for a spot in the fifth place game.

The Magicians walked out onto the pitch for their 2:15 p.m. game warmer and dryer than they were for their rainy quarterfinals match the day before. Minot High (10-4-4) fell behind just after halfway through the first half of the match when Jamestown’s Grady Jackson struck in the 23rd minute of the match. Jackson’s goal gave the Blue Jays (7-10-2) an early lead against the Magi. The consolation semifinals were the third time the teams had played this season, and the Blue Jays were still seeking their first victory against Minot High.

But Jamestown’s lead would not hold long, as the Magicians countered just two minutes later with a goal of their own when Drew Bohlender successfully converted a penalty kick in the 25th minute with a shot past Jamestown goalkeeper Evan Harty to tie the match.

Submitted Photo Magi senior goalkeeper Ian Stewart boots the ball away during Minot High’s victory over Jamestown in the consolation semifinals of the 2025 NDHSAA Boys Soccer State Tournament on Friday, Oct. 17. Photo by Michael Linnell

The teams remained 1-1 heading to the locker room. The second half was a much more defensive one for both teams. It looked as though the match might head into extra time, but the Magicians were able to break the stalemate in the 74th minute when junior Dylan Oswalt found the back of the net for his team-leading ninth goal of the season. The match ended with a 2-1 victory for the Magi.

Oswalt’s late-game heroics kept Minot High’s season alive for one more match while ending Jamestown’s run at the state tournament in the process.

The victory sends Minot High to the fifth-place match, where it will play Bismarck Century, which knocked off Bismarck Legacy in penalty kicks 3-2. The match is scheduled for 11 a.m. and will be one of three total matches played to place the state’s top five teams.

Minot High goalkeeper Ian Stewart finished with six saves, while Harty stopped four shots.

The Magicians have now won at least one match at the state tournament every year since 2022.