Saturday Scores: Wings fly in Central Finals, Blizzard force Game 5

Josh Boyko made 29 saves to help the Brookings Blizzard tie their series against the Wilderness with a 4-1 win in Game 4. Game 5 is Monday.

Central Division Semi-Finals, Game 4: Minot Minotauros 2 @ Aberdeen Wings 3 (2OT) (Aberdeen wins series, 3-1) - Tyler Bossert scored the first goal of the game at 7:43 of the first, assisted by Joey Strada, to give Aberdeen the early lead. Adam Pitters extended the lead to 2 goals after a pass from Riley Murphy at 9:48 of the first. Austin Koss closed out the first period with an unassisted goal for Minot at 14:25 to cut the Wings’ lead in half. Charles Weiand scored the lone second period goal, at 17:16, with help from Chase Springman and Paul O’Connor, to tie the game at two. With no scoring in either the third period or overtime number one, the teams headed to a second OT to decide the game. After almost 50 scoreless minutes, Carson Dimoff of the Aberdeen Wings notched the game-winner at 8:53 to secure the win – and the series, as he snuck home a wrap-around goal that beat Minot goalie Austin Park under the pads. Dimoff’s goal was assisted by Kevin Fitzgerald and Carter Roo. In net, Aberdeen’s Forbes Ploszaj made 34 saves, while Austin Park stopped 36 shots for Minot. Advancing to the Central Division finals, the Wings will face either the Minnesota Wilderness of the Brookings Blizzard. Boxscore

Central Division Semi-Finals, Game 4: Minnesota Wilderness 1 @ Brookings Blizzard 4 (series tied, 2-2) - A pair of goals from Brookings’ Connor Koviak gave them the edge to tie the series at 2 games apiece and force a Game 5. Koviak scored first at 4:23 of the second period, opening the game with help from Cameron Teamor and Paul Cotter. This power play goal was the first of the game. Cameron Teamor doubled the Blizzard lead with a goal at 5:54 of the third period, assisted by Roman Ahcan and Derek Hammer. Minnesota’s Gunnar Goodmanson scored the lone Wilderness goal off a pass from Luke Dow and Alexander Esbjors to cut the lead in half. Ahcan scored an empty netter at 19:16 off a pass from Cade Borchardt and Teamor. Koviak notched another empty netter 16 seconds later – at 19:32 – with help from John Siebenaler and Josh Boyko, resulting in a 4-1 victory for the Blizzard. Brookings’ netminder made 29 saves on the night, while Luke Kania made 22 saves for Minnesota. Boxscore