1. SPORTS
www.MinotDailyNews.com
Sunday, March 29, 2015 • Section C
Sports Editor: Ryan Holmgren • 857-1934 or 1-800-735-3229
• email: rholmgren@minotdailynews.com
Page C8
Dubnyk
stops 31
shots,
Wild
top
Kings
Page C7
Minot’s
Lennon
prepares
for int’l
tourney
Joe Mellenbruch/MDN
Minot Magic Football Club cleaned up at the North Dakota State Indoor Championships last weekend at the Minot State Dome, taking home six of
11 possible state titles en route to a tournament-high 48 team points. Jordin Lennon, left, had two goals in his teamʼs U-12 championship game.
Soccer cityWorld’s most popular sport is exploding around Minot
By JOE MELLENBRUCH
Staff Writer
jmellenbruch@minotdailynews.com
A lready with multiple state championships
and tournament appearances galore, the city of
Minot is enjoying one of its best athletic seasons
in recent memory.
And that’s not counting perhaps its most
successful program.
Last weekend at the Minot State Dome,
Magic Football Club — Minot’s premier youth
soccer program — collected six state titles from
a possible 11 at the inaugural North Dakota
State Indoor Championships, besting eight
other in-state teams with a tournament-high 48
team points.
All but two boys teams took first, a total of
five champions. Minot’s under-12 girls team
also won its respective bracket, followed by
runner-up performances from three other age
groups in the female division.
Tournament championships are becoming a
bit of an expectation for Magic F.C. at this
point, and the club is fielding more kids now
than ever before.
Why?
See SOCCER — Page C7
Minot High breaks out
brooms to open season
By JOHN DENEGA
Staff Writer
jdenega@minotdailynews.com
Minot High’s baseball team
didn’t get out to an ideal start
Saturday at Corbett field.
But the Magi survived.
Despite Fargo South loading
the bases with nobody out in the
first inning, Minot escaped with
just a one-run deficit.
The Magicians broke through
in the fourth and fifth innings
with seven runs en route to a 9-6
win over the Bruins at Corbett
Field. Minot went on to complete
the four-game sweep with an 8-1
victory in the nightcap.
Junior Liam Owens started
Game 1 for the Magicians.
And the junior struggled with
his command early, walking two
in the first, which led to an
South’s initial bases-loaded
threat. Owens tossed three
innings, giving up one run while
striking out three. Junior Conor
Taney relieved Owens in the
fourth.
Then Minot’s bats woke up.
Still trailing 1-0 with runners
at first and second and one out,
sophomore Garrett Larson
stepped to the plate looking to
complete Minot’s first successful
sacrifice bunt. But after two
fouled attempts, that notion was
lost, and Larson was stuck bat-
tling in a two-strike count.
Protecting the strike zone,
Larson laced a single down the
left-field line, scoring catcher
Jesse Roberts for Minot’s first run
of the game.
That’s when the floodgates
opened.
Aided by infield error, Minot
tacked on two more hits to take a
3-1 lead, effectively ending South
ace Alexander Dubord’s outing.
“I think (DuBord) got a little
fatigued,” Minot coach Pete
Sternberg said. “We saw him start
to go to his knees and stepping off
the mound. ... Our hitters also
started to focus a little more and
figure out what he was throwing.”
The Magicians didn’t wait long
to attack the bullpen, tagging jun-
ior Patrick Current for four runs in
the fifth to break the game open.
“We did a real nice job of using
both sides of the field,” Stenberg
Wildcats snap Beavers’
9-game winning streak
Daily News Staff
sports@minotdailynews.com
WAYNE, Neb. — Minot State
women’s softball team fell in both
games of a doubleheader against
Wayne State on Saturday.
The Beavers got blitzed in the
first game 7-1 as senior Mindy
Lorimorgaveupallsevenruns,four
earned, in 3 1/3 innings of work.
The second game was much
more competitive as the two teams
needed extras to decide a winner.
Lorimorwentalleightinningsyield-
ing six runs, five earned in the 6-5
defeat. The loss drops her record to
14-5 on the season.
Senior Ali Cygan had a com-
bined four hits in the two games
and two RBIs in game two.
The Beavers will be back in
action today for another double-
header, this time at Augustana.
Game one’s first pitch is at noon
while game two is scheduled to
start at 2 p.m.
Lions split with Bison
HAZEN — Bishop Ryan split a
doubleheaderwithHazenSaturday
afternoon.
The Lions took the first game 8-
2 with a potent offensive attack that
scored in all but one inning. Hazen
won the second game in a pitchers’
duel 2-1.
Senior Tanner Sanders paced
the Lions in game one going 3-for-3
with a homer, a double and three
See MSU — Page C8See MAGI — Page C8
BRIEFLY