CLOQUET, MN – DECEMBER 19th, 2017 – The Minnesota Wilderness, fresh off of a sweep of the first place Austin Bruins, have ended the first half of the NAHL season in third place – and one point out of first place. After a slow start to the season ( going 0-4 at the NAHL Showcase), the Wilderness have started to find the consistency they have been looking for with this years group of players. With only five returning players, the Wilderness have started to see players emerge as leaders – both veteran players and fist year players.
Current Standings:
|
Central Division |
GP |
W |
L |
OTL |
SOL |
PTS |
|
|
1 |
Austin Bruins |
27 |
14 |
9 |
1 |
3 |
32 |
|
2 |
Aberdeen Wings |
28 |
15 |
11 |
2 |
0 |
32 |
|
3 |
Minnesota Wilderness |
29 |
14 |
12 |
2 |
1 |
31 |
|
4 |
Bismarck Bobcats |
29 |
14 |
13 |
2 |
0 |
30 |
|
5 |
Brookings Blizzard |
29 |
14 |
13 |
1 |
1 |
30 |
|
6 |
Minot Minotauros |
27 |
12 |
11 |
3 |
1 |
28 |
Recap of Austin Games:
Friday December 15th – MN Wilderness 3 @ Austin 0 – Ryan Fanti stopped all 36 shots that came his way for his second shutout of the season as the Wilderness closed the gap in the Central Division with a 3-0 shutout win in Austin on Friday. After a scoreless 1st period, the Wilderness would open up the scoring in the 2nd period with two goals from Isaac Kobienia and Luke Dow. Late in the 3rd period, Kobienia would then add his second goal of the game on an empty net.
Saturday December 16th – Austin 2 @ MN Wilderness 4 – Ryan Fanti backstopped the Wilderness to a weekend sweep of the Bruins thanks to 21 saves in Saturday’s 4-2 win. The Wilderness jumped out to a 2-0 lead with 1st period goals from Ondrej Trejbal and Nicholas Michel. The Bruins closed the gap late in the 2nd period, but that was quickly answered by Isaac Kobienia’s 10th of the season, which made the score 3-1 and put the momentum back on the Wilderness’ side. In the 3rd period the Wilderness went up 4-1 with a goal early in the period from Kosta Likourezos.