In their lone game of the weekend, the Magicians lost a close game to the Coulee Region Chill on Friday night at Richfield Ice Arena. The loss was the first for the Magicians in their past four games. The team now sits in 2nd place in the NAHL’s Midwest Division and one point out of first place behind the Janesville Jets.
The Magicians came into the game on Friday with confidence after a three game winning streak catapulted the team in to first place in the division. Despite the Magicians’ momentum coming into the game, the Chill scored the first goal of the game to jump to an early lead. Late in the first period, the Magicians responded with two goals in quick succession, the first coming from Minnetonka native Brendan Skarda (Jake Cass, Dima Kobylyanskyi) to tie the game, and the next coming from Timo Walther (Cam Buhl, John Siebenaler) to put the Magicians ahead going into the intermission.
Coulee Region bounced back in the 2nd period, scoring the only two goals of the period to jump to a 3-2 lead heading into the final frame. In the third, Coulee Region struck again to make it 4-2 early in the period. Shortly thereafter, the Magicians got a goal from Cam Buhl (Timo Walther) to get close, but they were unable to score again and ultimately fell to the Chill by a final score of 4-3. The schedule gets tougher for the Magicians this week, as the team heads to Janesville for two games vs. the Jets over the weekend.
In other news, several Magicians alumni have had great starts to their collegiate seasons. Forward Marc Michaelis (2014 Magicians) has 1 goal and 5 assists in his first four games as a freshman at Minnesota State-Mankato (WCHA); Will Johnson (2013-14 Magicians) has two goals in four games this season as a sophomore at Wisconsin; Michael Wilson (2016 Magicians) has a 2 points in 3 games as a freshman at Army (AHA); Casey Jerry (2015-16 Magicians) has 2 assists in 4 games at Canisius (AHA). Goaltender Atte Tolvanen (2013-14 Magicians) has a 2.41 goals against average through 4 games for Northern Michigan (WCHA), and he has been put on the Mike Richter Award “Watch List” for best goaltender in Division I college hockey. Find more information on Magicians hockey at www.wisconsinjuniorhockey.com!