GRAND FORKS - After the game, shots on goal read: West Fargo 42, Minot 16.
Despite the lopsided totals, Magicians goalie Darren Medler, the West Region senior player of the year, made sure no one left Ralph Engelstad Arena early.
But in the end, Conor Jonasson's first-period goal stood as the game's only tally in West Fargo's 1-0 victory over Minot in the quarterfinals of the North Dakota state boys hockey tournament.
"He was hot," West Fargo co-head coach Tim Capouch said of Medler, who stopped 41 shots. "He was very good in goal."
Medler stole the show with 13 saves in the first and an astonishing 21 stops in the middle period.
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The Packers, though, advance to the semifinals to face Grand Forks Red River. West Fargo and the Roughriders play 30 minutes after the Grand Forks Central vs. Grafton-Park River semifinal, which begins at 6:30 tonight.
Despite outshooting Minot 14-1 during the first period, the Packers couldn't crack Medler until 40 seconds left in the period. Braden Schmidt saucered a pass from his backhand over to Jonasson, who redirected the puck past Medler for a 1-0 advantage.
"Conor skated right through their defense and took a nice pass from Schmidt," Capouch said. "Kody Duncan set up that play with a nice breakout pass out of the zone."
The Magicians didn't get their first shot on net until Alex Schoenborn's slapper from the perimeter with 1:20 left in the opening period.
But the Magicians hung around.
One of Minot's best chances in the third period came on another shot from Schoenborn, a freshman whose shot from the slot ringed the post with 13:16 left in the final period.
Then the Magicians went on the power play with 7:33 remaining in the third. But Minot didn't muster any quality chances with the man advantage.
Minot pulled Medler with a minute left. The Magicians had one final attempt at the equalizer. With 5 seconds left, Schoenborn skated behind the net and found teammate Drew Groves at the doorstep. But Groves couldn't get a solid connection on the pass and hit the puck into the side of the net.
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Capouch said the Packers will need to do a much better job of finishing in order to advance to the state championship game.
"I thought we played a good game, but we couldn't finish," Capouch said. "We're going to have to finish much better than that if we're going to have a chance to beat Red River.
"We split with Red River during the regular season, so I think a lot of it is going to come down to who wants it more."
FIRST PERIOD: 1, WF, Jonasson (Schmidt) 16:20.
SECOND PERIOD: No scoring.
THIRD PERIOD: No scoring.
SAVES: WF, Holland 1-5-10-16. M, Medler 13-20-7-41.
Miller writes for the Grand Forks Herald
