Weekend Recap December 19-20
NAHL Minot Minotauros

Weekend Recap December 19-20

Published on December 20, 2025 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minot Minotauros News Release


Ahead of the holiday break, the Tauros traveled to North Iowa for their first visit to Mason City Arena this season, taking on the Bulls with a chance to climb into the top half of the division. Entering the weekend, Minot and North Iowa were deadlocked at 23 points apiece, sitting just one point outside the playoff picture.

Minot was in search of redemption following the Bulls' sweeping the weekend series in the first meeting of the season between the two teams back in mid-September.

Friday night brought a tightly contested contest as 40 minutes would come and go without either team finding the back of the net.

Despite numerous power play opportunities each way, neither team netted a goal in the first two periods, as both teams would arrive at the second intermission in a scoreless tie. Through the opening two periods of the weekend, shots on goal were even at 20.

Just under a minute into the third period, it was Fugi Suzuki breaking the scoreless tie as he guided one past Tauros' netminder Brian Cooke on a power play goal that would go for Suzuki's 13th of the season.

Assisting on Suzuki's goal were Michael Malatino and Vitaliy Korolyuk as teddy bears hit the ice inside Mason City Arena following the Bulls' first goal of the night.

The Bulls' lead wouldn't last long, however, as 40 seconds later, Michael Solominsky was able to tee one up off of the right faceoff circle on an assist from Evan Foiles to tie the game back up at aces as the puck whizzed by the blocker of Aaron Sachs between the pipes for the Bulls.

Shortly after the goal, Jacob Stock would head to the box for the Tauros on a holding call, providing the Bulls an opportunity to restore the lead, which would eventually be denied by the Tauros' penalty kill unit.

With just 11 minutes remaining in regulation, Owen Dawson was able to find room towards the top of the zone and find nylon from long range to give Minot their first lead of the evening.

The goal for Dawson would be his first of the year, as Jax Warren and Lucca Ori were responsible for the assists.

Minot would take a 2-1 lead into the second of the final period of regulation courtesy of Solominsky's and Dawson's goals.

With 2:31 left to play in the third period, Evan Foiles would be called for a tripping minor, as the game granted the Bulls' one final opportunity to tie things up in the weekend opener.

Vitaliy Korolyuk would cash in on the extra man-advantage with 1:34 remaining in regulation on the power play to restore the tie game as the final horn would sound, sending the game to an overtime session.

Through 60 minutes of play in North Iowa, it was the Bulls outshooting the Tauros 37-30.

Evan Foiles would be the hero in overtime as he threw one past Sachs from the near side, securing Minot the 3-2 victory on Friday night for their third win in a row. The OT winner for Foiles would mark his second overtime goal in two weeks as the Tauros took the first game of the season inside Mason City Arena.

Brian Cooke would pick up the win in net for the Tauros, saving 40 of 42 shots faced as his record improved to 6-4-1 following the victory.

The Friday night win for the Tauros would leapfrog them over the Bulls in the standings as Minot moved into 5th place in the standings, still one point shy of the Watertown Shamrocks for the top half of the division.

Friday night's contest would get off to a quicker start as the game would open up less than five minutes into the first period.

It was Fugi Suzuki netting the first goal of the night for the second game in a row as he tipped home a feed from Malatino.

Ivan Sidorov would have the answer for Minot just 36 seconds later when the '06 Tauros' forward was able to find a home for a follow-up try off a draw in the offensive zone off an initial shot from Briggs Knott.

Sidorov's goal would draw the game even at aces after just over five minutes of action on the ice in the Saturday night contest.

That would be all the scoring the first period would have to offer, as both teams would arrive at the first intermission tied up, 1-1. Through 20 minutes of play, the Tauros outshot the Bulls 10-7.

The scoring would pick back up in the middle frame with 15:04 remaining in the period as Daniil Afonin made an athletic maneuver to feed the puck past Sachs from his backside as Afonin hit the deck to restore the Minot lead.

Credited with the assists on Afonin's goal were Jax Warren and Mackley Morelli, who notched their fourth and second assists, respectively.

Midway through the period, the Tauros would go on a 5-on-3 advantage following a pair of calls on Suzuki and Denis Hodas for high-sticking and unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Tauros an opportunity to add on to the lead.

It was Artem Prima cashing in on the power play off a cross-ice feed from Philip Wiklund to double the Tauros' lead, making it 3-1. The goal for Prima would be his eighth of the season and fourth point in three games.

Prior to the period's end, it was Korolyuk cutting the deficit back down to one for North Iowa as the Bulls were able to convert on a power play opportunity of their own. The goal for Korolyuk would be his second of the weekend and fourth against the Tauros this season.

That score would hold as both teams would make their way to the dressing room with Minot leading 3-2.

Shots on net through 40 minutes on Saturday night favored the men from the Magic City, 23-19.

Just under four minutes into the third period, Carter Davis would find room along the point on the right wing and fire a long shot past Cooke to once again tie the game up. The goal for Davis marked his fourth of the year with assists from Jack Sullivan and Parker Osborn.

Fugi Suzuki would be responsible for the game-winning goal, as he notched his second of the night and the third of the weekend as the Bulls defeated the Tauros 4-3, as North Iowa completed the comeback to salvage the series split.

The win for the Bulls positioned them back ahead of Tauros heading into the holiday break in the Central Division standings.

The Tauros will be off next weekend for the holiday, but will return to the ice on New Year's Eve in the state's capital as they square off against rival Bismarck Bobcats. Puck drop for that game is slated for 7:15 PM at the VFW Sports Center.

The Tauros will return to the Pepsi Rink at Maysa Arena on January 2nd & 3rd to take on the same Bobcats team. Tickets for those games and all Tauros' home games can be purchased on the Tauros' online ticketing site.

And 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.

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.

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North American Hockey League Stories from December 20, 2025


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