Mason City, IA- The Toros started a 3-game homestand Thursday night against their West Division foe the Wilmar Warhawks. The Toros and the Warhawks had previously met 7 times this season with the Toros leading the season series 5-2. Of the 7 games played, 4 games have been decided by one or two goals and Thursday’s game continued that pattern.
David Loahr opened the scoring at 3:26 in the first when he took a pass from Josh Giguere down below the goal line in the corner and fired a hard-angle shot over the glove of Josh Mack to put the Toros on the board. Two minutes later, Nolan Smith landed a heavy hit behind the net and passed the puck out front to a waiting Nolan Christy who put one to the back of the net to give the Toros a 2-0 lead at the end of the first.
The Toros added two more in the second when Miles Berg dropped a huge slapshot from the point that would find the twine to put the Toros up 3-0. Two minutes later Marcus Fritel would gather the puck on a two-on-one breakaway. He floated the puck over the stick of the defender to a waiting David Loahr who put one bar down over the Mack’s glove for his second of the night to extend the lead to 4-0.
Wilmar battled back and scored 4 unanswered to force an overtime period. With no winner emerging in overtime, the game went to a shootout, where Luke Robertson scored the winner for the Toros.
The Toros will finish the week with a 2 game homestand against the Minnesota Loons on Friday and Saturday. A regulation victory on Friday night will secure the Toros 23-24″ Fraiser Cup playoff spot. The puck drop is slated for 7:15 P.M. Live streaming coverage is available at NAHLtv.com.
To Purchase advance tickets to an upcoming Mason City Toros game, call 641-423-4625. Updated news on Toros Hockey is always available at https://www.masoncitytoros.