North Iowa, Metro pull off dramatic Semi-Final wins

April 2, 2016

In another dramatic day at the NA3HL Silver Cup, the North Iowa Bulls and the Metro Jets pulled out two close one-goal wins to advance to the Championship Game on Sunday, in what will be a match-up of the top two teams from the regular season.

 

Sunday’s Championship Game will be played at 1pm live on FASTHockey

 

 

Semi-Final #1: North Iowa Bulls 4 vs. Twin City Steel 3 (OT) - North Iowa pulled out a 4-3 (OT) overtime victory over Twin City on a clutch goal by Kohei Sato. The win advanced the Bulls to the NA3HL Championship Game on Sunday. Sato had two goals to lead North Iowa to victory. Sato scored at 7:51 into the second period to make the score 1-1 and again 2:51 into overtime to make the final score 4-3 North Iowa. Sato picked up the puck at his own blueline, raced his way up the right way and cut to the middle, sending a low shot past Steel goalie Gunnar Howg for the game-winner. North Iowa also had goals scored by Joe Burgmeier and Austin Jackson, who each put in one. In addition, North Iowa received assists from Quinn Fuchs, Marshall Barnes, and Carmen Dalesandro, who each chipped in one and Connor Bump and Brett Gravelle, who contributed two each. Twin City kept North Iowa's goalie busy throughout the game, and Tommi Ahlgren made 32 saves on 35 shots. Twin City was led by Yannick Zehnder, who registered two goals. Zehnder scored the first of his two goals at 12:39 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Twin City. Nick McKeeby picked up the assist. Zehnder's next tally made the score 2-2 with 4:11 left in the second period. Luc Kreuser assisted on the tally. Twin City also got a goal from Zak Lambrecht as well. Other players who recorded assists for Twin City were Paul Stehr, Tyler Nystrom, Jared Erickson, and Alex Egle, who each chipped in one. Howg recorded 31 saves for Twin City. Boxscore

Semi-Final #2: Metro Jets 5 vs. Great Falls Americans 4 – The Jets survived a furious comeback attempt by the Americans, which included a waved off goal in the late stages of the 3rd period as Metro advanced to the NA3HL Silver Cup Championship Game with a 5-4 win. Great Falls got as close as 5-4 when Tyler Garcia scored 19:31 into the third period. Metro was paced by Mathias Tellstrom, who registered two goals. Metro also got points from Jacob Gleason, who also grabbed one goal and one assist. Others who scored for Metro included Cam Schwartz, Robert Flannery, and Matt Dempsey, who each put in one. In addition, Metro received assists from Jacob Drinkard, who had two and Pearce Vance, Michael Tratar, Devin Kelly, Chase Sereno, Graham Day, and Kevin Shand, who each chipped in one. Great Falls additionally got points from Tegan Harrington, who also racked up one goal and one assist. Great Falls also had goals scored by Tanner Congdon and Miles Giorgione, who scored one goal each. More assists for Great Falls came via Stevan Goran, who had two and Kyle Johnson, Josh Larson, and Brendan Jester, who contributed one each. Kameron Limburg rejected 23 shots on goal for Metro. Jake Stephan made 31 saves for Great Falls on 35 shots. Boxscore