The North Iowa Bulls jumped out to a four-point advantage by the end of the first period and beat the Dallas Jr. Stars, 7-1.
The win gave North Iowa a 1-0 lead in the best of one series.
Matt Kroska was all over the ice for the Bulls, as he tallied two goals and three assists in the win. Kroska scored the first of his two goals at 9:04 into the first period to make the score 2-0 North Iowa. Rihards Marenis provided the assist. Kroska\’s next tally made the score 3-0 North Iowa with 8:41 left in the first period. A kneeing penalty on Brandon Salisbury had put North Iowa on the power play. Marenis assisted on the tally.
The Bulls kept Dallas\’ goalie busy throughout the game, and Chris Mallon made 61 saves on 68 shots. North Iowa was effective with a man advantage, and put in three goals while on the power play.
North Iowa also got points from Marenis, who also racked up three goals and two assists. Others who scored for North Iowa included Zach Jones and Kyle Krueger, who scored one goal each. In addition, North Iowa received assists from Tim Santopoalo, who had three and Joe Kleven, Ron Lindgren, Matt Fosdick, and Trey Gardner, who contributed one each.
The Jr. Stars found themselves stymied offensively, and got off a mere 14 shots against the Bulls\’ defense.
Jordan Moran rejected 13 shots on goal for North Iowa. The Bulls incurred four minutes in penalty time with two minors. Dallas incurred 10 minutes in penalty time with five minors.