Mason City, IA – The North Iowa Bulls completed their first weekend sweep of the 2026-27 season on Saturday night, authoring a 4-0 shutout of the Minnesota Wilderness at the Mason City Arena.
New Prague, MN, native Cole Murphy took the net for the second game of his season and pitched the first shutout of his season. He notched two shutouts last season for the NA3HL’s Great Falls Americans and surpassed his high for saves in a shutout with 33 stops between the Bulls’ pipes.
Christian Plaga led the way with a three-point performance. His goal in the first period opened the scoring 8:33 into the evening. The Manhattan Beach, CA, native ended his night with nine points in his first four games of his second junior hockey career. His three-point night is the 20th multi-point game of his junior hockey career.
Dubuque, IA, native Alex Heinkel added two assists for the first multi-point night of his junior hockey career and a three-point weekend after he opened the scoring the night prior. His first assist came on a dogged pursuit to tee up Dominic Pavelko for the first goal of his season and junior hockey career. Captain Grant Harder added a power play tally in the second period to extend his remarkable scoring total to 10 in just four games from the Bulls’ blue line.
Wakely Holzer potted the last goal of the night on the power play in the third period to extend the Bulls’ lead to 4-0 and end the night’s scoring. The Omaha, NE, native extended his point total to 8 points in his first 4 Bulls games with a goal and an assist.
The Bulls hit the road for a weekend trip to Sauk Rapids to face the defending Fraser Cup Champion Granite City Lumberjacks next weekend.