MANDAN – The Minot High boys hockey team traveled to Mandan to take on the Braves. They took a perfect record and an unbeaten stat sheet with them to Mandan and left with their first loss of the season. The Braves used home ice and a high level of energy, momentum to jump out to an early lead and win the contest 6-1 at home.

Mandan jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with goals at the 8:38 mark and 11:49 mark of the first period of play. The Braves outshot the Magi 7-4 in the first period of play while Mandan had two penalties compared to one for Minot High.

Mandan followed the same pattern to start the second period of play with goals at the 5:00 and 6:08 marks before Minot High came to life. Mackley Morelli found the net on a power play at the 7:52 mark with Aidan Diehl and Teegan Strand on the assists for the Magi. The Braves scored one final goal in the second at the 10:02 mark for the 5-1 lead.

The Magi had 13 shots on goal in the second while the hosts had five. Again, Minot High had one penalty in the second compared to two for Mandan. The third period had Mandan score at the 15:31 mark for the 6-1 score that turned out to be the final score.

Minot High had seven shots on goal in the third period compared to another five from Mandan. Minot had two penalties in the third while the hosts had one. The Magi had 24 shots on goal compared to 17 for the Braves.

Minot High dropped to 12-1 in Western Dakota Association (WDA) play and 18-1 overall. Mandan moved to 7-4-1-2 in WDA play and 7-6-2-2 overall. The Magi still sit atop the WDA standings in first place while Mandan is at five with Century, Legacy and Jamestown between the Braves and the Magi at the top.

Minot High welcomes Bottineau-Rugby on Tuesday, February 4, and travels to Dickinson on Saturday, February 8, for their next two contests. The final match of the regular season is slated for Tuesday, February 11, when Williston makes the trip to Minot.