The North Iowa Bulls survived a determined comeback attempt by the Alexandria Blizzard on the way to a 4-3 win.
North Iowa took a 4-1 lead during the second period, only to have Alexandria storm back on a Jake Wasem goal 4:49 into the third period to pull to one goal down.
Dylan Zins had two goals and one assist to lead the Bulls. Zins scored the first of his two goals at 9:15 into the first period to make the score 2-1 North Iowa. Tom Lindgren provided the assist. Zins\’ next tally made the score 4-1 North Iowa with 16:44 left in the second period. Sam Naegele assisted on the tally.
North Iowa kept the Blizzard\’s goalie busy throughout the game, and Evan Bisek made 41 saves on 45 shots.
Others who scored for North Iowa included Tommy Heinzman and Carmen Dalesandro, who scored one goal each. More assists for North Iowa came via Connor Bump and Joe Burgmeier, who each chipped in one.
Alexandria\’s penalty kill was spotless, allowing no goals on three North Iowa power plays.
The Blizzard were helped by Nate Mettenburg, who tallied one goal. Mettenburg scored 1:28 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Alexandria. Tony Arias picked up the assist. Alexandria also got points from Aaron Ryback, who also had one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. Other players who recorded assists for Alexandria were Trent Olson, Kyle Jones, Tyler Sworsky, and Tom Schmidt, who contributed one each.
David Johnson recorded 18 saves for the Bulls. North Iowa incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors. Alexandria incurred six minutes in penalty time with three minors.
