Magicians, Wings open NAHL finals with wins

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Midwesthockey.info

The host Aberdeen Wings and Minnesota Magicians both took full advantage of home ice in the openers of their respective NAHL Division Championship Series on Friday (June 4, 2021) night.

The Magicians, who swept past the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in the opening round were playing a first playoff game on home ice at the Richfield Ice Center with a 3-2 edge against the Kenai River Brown Bears while Aberdeen, coming of a thrilling five-game set against the Minot Minotauros opened its championship series with a 5-3 edge against the visiting Bismarck Bobcats at Odde Ice Center.

Minnesota Magicians 3 Kenai River Brown Bears 2

The Magicians started off a bit slow in its first game in a week, trailing 1-0 after a period but pulled even as Will Svenddal (‘01/Minneapolis) responded with the lone goal of the middle period. Brandon Lajoie (‘01/Eagle River, Alaska) fired the earlier goal for Brown Bears.

Jake Seitz (‘00/Mt. Iron, Minn.) gave the Magicians its first lead of the contest 3:46 into the final period but it was even again when Morgan Winters (‘01/Osprey, Fla.) scored for the Bears with 7:09 to go.

Jack Cronin (‘01/Hamilton, Mass.) stepped up with the game winner inside the final five minutes.

Andy Beran (‘00/St. Paul, Minn.) collected the win in goal with 21 saves and Luke Pacivich (‘02/Clarence Center, N.Y.) kicked out 34 in goal for the Brown Bears.

The Magicians and Brown Bears are scheduled to meet again at the Richfield Ice Center Saturday night then shift to the National Sports Center Super Rinks in Blaine next weekend.

Aberdeen Wings 5 Bismarck Bobcats 3

The Wings faced a surprisingly tough challenge from the Minotauros in the opening round while the Bobcats drew a sweep against the Minnesota Wilderness.

So, the Wings handed the Cats its first loss of the post season, building a 2-1 first period cushion but scoring twice in the game’s final 10-minutes to break a 3-3 draw.

Clayton Cosentino (‘00/San Carlos, Calif.) fired the game winner for the Wings with others for Will Arquiett (‘’00/Brashear Falls, N.Y.); Christian Abrams (‘00/Dallas, Texas); Payton Matsui (‘00/Lakeville, Minn.) and Jake Goldowski (‘00/Thornhurst, Penn.).

Ryan Taylor (‘’01/St. Louis, Mo.); Luke Gramer (‘02/Moorhead, Minn.) and Austin Schwartz (‘01/Parker, Colo.) scored for the Tabbies.

Jake Sibell (‘00/Isanti, Minn.) collected the win with 26-saves in goal for the Wings and Ian Shane (‘00/Manhattan Beach, Calif.) turned in a 29-save effort for Bismarck.

Teams will be at the Odde Ice Center again Saturday night before the series shifts to the VFW Sports Center in Bismarck, next weekend.

The other two divisions also opened on Friday, the Maine Nordiques collecting a 4-1 win against the Maryland Black Bears in the opener of the East Division Championship set at Androscoggin Bank Colisee while the host Shreveport Mudbugs opened the South Division finals with a 4-3 win against the visiting Wichita Falls Wildcats at George’s Pond Hirsch Coliseum.