Brett Gravelle netted a hat trick to lead North Iowa over Nashville, 5-2.
Gravelle\’s first goal came 5:08 into the first period. He then added goals at 7:19 into the second and at 9:52 into the third.
North Iowa forced Nashville\’s goalies to work hard to keep the puck out of the net, launching 39 shots and forcing 34 saves. Nicholas Ottenbacher made 17 stops and Ricky Gonzalez made 17.
North Iowa also got a goal from Ryan Durant as well. Other players who recorded assists for North Iowa were Jeff Solow, who had two and Alec Nichols, Adam Orn, Quinn Fuchs, Tommy Stang, Jack Stang, and David Min, who each chipped in one.
North Iowa was unable to stop Nashville from sending pucks towards the net, and Nashville eventually piled up 31 shots on goal. Nashville\’s defense was uncharacteristically lax during the game. Nashville averages 2.3 goals allowed per game. Nashville\’s penalty killing units received substantial work throughout the game as Nashville finished with 24 penalty minutes.
Nashville was helped by Riley Holden, who grabbed one goal. Holden scored 3:09 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Nashville. Kyle Van Wyk picked up the assist. Max Dorfman also scored for Nashville. In addition, Nashville received assists from William Garrity, Trent Kulczyk, and Nicholas Redmon, who contributed one each.
Tommi Ahlgren made 29 saves for North Iowa on 31 shots. North Iowa totaled 11 minutes in penalty time with three minors and one major and went 1-for-7 on the power play. Nashville registered one goal on four power play opportunities.