The North Iowa Bulls kept themselves in the NA3HL West Division hunt taking 4 of 6 available points on the weekend. On Friday, October 10th the Bulls erupted for 10 goals downing the Minnesota Flying Aces 10-0. Bull's goaltender David Johnson recorded his third straight shutout start of the season, including back-to-back shutouts of the Aces. Brett Gravelle, Trey Gardner and Tom Lindgren paced the Bulls with two goals each while Travis Johnston recorded a goal and two assists with brother Zach notching 3 helpers.
On Saturday the Bulls dropped a close one in Alexandria 3-2. After a scoreless first period, Bulls forward Johnny Panvica tallied to give North Iowa a 1-0 lead. Alexandria leveled the score at 1-1 to end the second. The Bulls felt good about their chances being tied after two periods on the road. Unfortunately Alexandria broke through first in the third 8 minutes into the period and added a power play goal 9 minutes later to take 3-1 lead. Joe Burgmeier buried a Brett Gravelle rebound that closed the gap to 3-2 with goaltender Jordan Moran on the bench for an extra attacker at 18:31 of the third. With Moran still on the bench the Bulls couldn't generate another goal to tie the game.
Tommi Ahlgren made his second start of the season on his birthday Sunday, October 12th against Breezy Point. Ahlgren, a goalie from Tampere, Finland recorded his first NA3HL win stopping 38 of 39 shots. Leading the Bulls offensively was Johnny Panvica with a pair of goals. Ryan Durant and Brett Gravelle also scored 1 goal each for North Iowa en route to the 4-1 victory.
The Bulls face division rival Granite City next Friday and Saturday night at the Sports Arena East in Sauk Rapids, MN.