The North Iowa Bulls jumped out to a five-point advantage by the end of the first period and beat the Minnesota Flying Aces, 10-3.
Jake Johnson had one goal and three assists to lead North Iowa. Johnson scored 6:50 into the third period to make the score 8-2 North Iowa. Trey Gardner assisted on the tally.
The Bulls forced Flying Aces\’ goaltenders to work in net, totaling 57 shots and forcing 47 saves. Joey1 Bergquist made seven stops and Matt Douglas made 40. North Iowa surpassed its usual scoring output this season. The Bulls average 5.2 goals per game. The defensemen of North Iowa were also effective in Minnesota\’s zone, and came away with two goals. The Bulls were forced to rely heavily on their penalty kill unit throughout the game, as they racked up 30 penalty minutes.
North Iowa additionally got points from Tom Lindgren, who also registered one goal and two assists, Sam Naegele, who also finished with one goal and one assist, and Gardner, who also grabbed one goal and one assist. Others who scored for North Iowa included Johnny Panvica, Tyler Johnson, and Kohei Sato, who each put in two. In addition, North Iowa received assists from Joe Burgmeier, who had three, Ryan Durant, Kurt Halbach, Brett Gravelle, and Dylan Zins, who contributed one each, and Jake Mullendore and Jack Stang, who each chipped in two.
Tommi Ahlgren recorded 27 saves for North Iowa. The Bulls registered two goals on four power play opportunities. For North Iowa, Zins was ejected from the game. The Flying Aces totaled 35 minutes in penalty time with five minors and one major and went 2-for-6 on the power play. Team\’s Lucas Mickelson and Blake Neumann were slapped with misconducts and ejected from the game.