Weekend Recap December 12-13
NAHL Minot Minotauros

Weekend Recap December 12-13

Published on December 13, 2025 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minot Minotauros News Release


The Tauros and Norsemen squared off this weekend for their third meeting of the season, as Minot looked to maintain its unbeaten record against St. Cloud. The series marked the final time the two teams would face each other until March as the Tauros looked to make a move up the Central Division standings.

This weekend marked the first weekend in which Cody Campbell returned behind the bench in the head coaching role for Minot.

Friday night featured a back-and-forth contest as 60 minutes wasn't enough to decide it.

After three periods of play on the Pepsi Rink, the Tauros and Norsemen would find themselves in a scoreless deadlock. Through regulation, Minot was outshooting St. Cloud 32-23.

The game's only goal and game-winner would come in OT as Evan Foiles lasered one past Norsemen netminder Beck Liden, sending Maysa Arena into a frenzy. The goal for Foiles would be his first in the cream & cardinal as the Tauros took night one of the weekend set.

In net, getting the win and his first career shutout as a Tauro was '08 goaltender Brian Cooke, as he saved a perfect 23 of 23 shots faced. With the win, Cooke's record improved to 4-4-1 on the season.

Saturday night would give the Tauros the opportunity to notch their third straight weekend sweep over the Normsen as they were in search of their sixth win of the season against St. Cloud on Teddy Bear Toss night in the Magic City.

The scoring would come in bunches in the first period as Philip Wiklund would secure the Teddy Bear toss goal under four minutes into the opening period on the power play.

Wiklund's goal would mark his fifth of the season as he triggered a franchise record toss of teddy bears with over 2,000+ bears raining down onto the ice, resulting in a prolonged stoppage with 16:04 left to play in the first.

Just over five minutes later, it was Wiklund striking again as he beat Liden blocker-side to double the Minot lead off an assist from Ivan Sidorov for his second of the night.

The assist for Sidorov would be his sixth of the season as the Tauros jumped out to a 2-0 lead with 10:52 remaining in the first period on Saturday night.

The Tauros would add one more before the period's end as Sidorov delivered a puck past Liden's glove from long range for the Tauros' third goal of the period.

The horn would sound signaling the end of the first as the Tauros would head to the dressing rooms with a 3-0 lead over the Norsemen. Minot outshot St. Cloud through the opening period, 10-7.

The Norsemen would get one back in the second courtesy of Alex Sandhu, as his goal would be the only one of the period.

The goal for Sandhu would be his tenth of the season with the assist from Tanner Hunt as St. Cloud would cut the deficit back down to just two heading into the second intermission.

At the second break, the Tauros would hang onto the advantage in shots on net, 21-19.

Ty James would commence the third period with a strike as he cashed in for the Tauros' second power play goal of the night, firing one in from near the blue line to restore the Tauros' three-goal lead.

The goal for James would mark his fifth of the season, with assists coming from Lucca Ori and Artem Prima to make it 4-1 in favor of Minot.

With 9:34 remaining in regulation, Wiklund would complete the hat-trick as he hammered one home for his third of the night and seventh of the season to put the icing on the Saturday night win on Teddy Bear Toss night.

Wiklund's hat-trick would mark the second consecutive year that the Teddy Bear Toss goal-scorer would notch a hat-trick on the same night, joining Billy Batten from last year.

The horn would eventually sound as the Tauros secured the weekend sweep over the Norsemen, as Minot remained undefeated against St. Cloud this season with the two wins on the Pepsi Rink.

Brian Cooke would get his second win of the weekend in net, saving 24 shots en route to the 5-1 victory. Cooke would end the weekend saving a combined 47 of 48 shots faced as he was near perfect in net for the men from the Magic City.

With the two wins on the weekend, the Tauros gained crucial ground in the Central Division race as they head to Mason City tied with the North Iowa Bulls in fifth place.

The Tauros will make the trip to Mason City next weekend for their final weekend series prior to the holiday break, with puck drop for Friday & Saturday night slated for 7:10 PM at Mason City Arena in Iowa.

As always, all Tauros' home and road games can be viewed live on NATV along with a free live audio broadcast available on the Tauros' YouTube, Facebook, and Mixlr pages.

The Tauros will return to the ice at Maysa Arena on January 2nd & 3rd as they take on in-state rival Bismarck Bobcats. Tickets for that weekend series and all Tauros' home games can be purchased on the Tauros' online ticketing site.

To stay most up to date with all things Minotauros, be sure to tune into Tauros All Access with Olivia Tosto and Preslie Davis Mondays-Thursdays at 3 PM on the Tauros Facebook and YouTube pages.

Check out the Minot Minotauros Statistics

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North American Hockey League Stories from December 13, 2025


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