Post Game Report 12-10
OREGON, Wis. – A Midwestern winter storm left several inches of snow on the ground after the Bulls left Mason City on Saturday to face the Wisconsin Whalers, but the boys on the bus weren’t too worried – they heated things up in Wisconsin with six straight goals in a 7-3 win over the Whalers to take their fifth win in a row and move to 22-3-0 on the year.
The game was a veritable track-meet of a contest, with the two teams combining for 107 shots, including 34 in the opening 20 minutes. Carter Grobstick grabbed the momentum early for the hosts, with the opening goal just 65 seconds after the opening faceoff, but the Bulls evened things up at the eight-minute mark on a goal from Lucas McKinnon (Mason City, Iowa/Appleton United H.S.).
It was Miller who took control of the scoring at the halfway point of the game – first a go-ahead goal from the Whalers’ Nick Miller at 10:08 of the second period, than a second equalizer from Logan Miller (Menomonie, Wis./Menomonie H.S.) just 32 seconds later. Before the 17-minute mark of the period, the Bulls had turned the game into one of their patented runaways – Tim Kuivien (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi H.S.), Mitch Dolter (Faribault, Minn./Shattuck-St. Mary’s) and Marshall Barnes (Edina, Minn./North Iowa Bulls) all earned goals before the end of the period. Two more North Iowa markers and a late tally from Grobstick with 3:08 to go finished off the scoring in the third period.
R.J. Pluhar (Glen Carbon, Ill./Aberdeen Wings) had his work cut out for him, stopping 43 of the 46 shots that the Whalers threw his way for his sixth win of the year. Elliot Gerth would last only through the second period for Wisconsin, allowing five goals on 37 North Iowa shots. Max McConnell made 22 saves on 24 chances in relief.
The schedule changes significantly for North Iowa this week, with the NA3HL Showcase ahead. Games against the Texas Jr. Brahmas, Metro Jets and New England Stars await the Bulls this coming Friday through Sunday at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine, Minn. The weekend starts with a 10:30 a.m. faceoff on Friday against the Jr. Brahmas, who participated in last year’s Silver Cup tournament. All home and away Bulls games, including next weekend’s Showcase games, are streamed live on HockeyTV – all Bulls home games and select road games are also audio-streamed on Mixlr.