MASON CITY, Iowa – On June 1, the Mason City Toros officially became part of the junior hockey scene in northern Iowa.
On Sunday afternoon, they became part of the area’s winning hockey tradition.
The Toros defeated the Wausau Cyclones 7-3 in their only preseason showing before the start of their regular season on Saturday, September 25 against the Alexandria Blizzard
The power play units for both teams were sharp, with Mason City going 2-for-3 on the power play and the Cyclones going 1-for-2. The battle for the opening goal came down to the very last second of the first period, after a cross-checking call to C.J. Zins with 1:59 left on the clock. With a second to go in the period and two seconds left on the power play, Sota Isogai drilled a one-timer from the right-wing faceoff circle and the Toros took the 1-0 lead to the locker room.
The scoring picked up quickly in the second period, with three goals coming in a 91-second span. Goals from Cal Levis at 3:39 and Carter Newpower at 4:52 gave the Toros a 3-0 lead, but Wausau finally dented the scoreboard at 5:10 of the period on a tap-in amid a stick battle in front of the Mason City net.
Dillon Schmidt’s holding call with 7:01 left in the second period put the Cyclones on the power play for the first time, and Mason City had nearly killed off the man-advantage before Dominick Bourdon scored to put Wausau back within two goals.
It didn’t take long for the Toros to answer back, with Newpower stuffing home his second goal of the day at 15:21 of the period to make it a 5-2 contest heading to the third.
The final period was much like the first two – two steps forward for the Mason City offense, but a step back for the defense. With 20 seconds remaining on a slashing call against Derek Cagle, Blake Polifka snapped one down the slot from the top of the zone and beat Mitch Miscevich top-shelf to stretch the lead to four goals.
Wausau and Mason City exchanged goals one more time, with Griffin Lennes registering the Cyclones’ final goal of the game at 3:26 and Zach Giblin’s closing marker with 47.9 seconds to go.
Newpower picked up three points, including two goals, in the victory, while Isogai, Schmidt, Brendan Sloth and Jack Campion all had multi-point games of their own for Mason City. Bourdon and Lennes had a goal and an assist apiece.
The Bulls out-shot their visitors 48-19 in the game, including a 15-4 mark in the first period and 18-5 in the third. Reilly Eason played a perfect first period for the Toros with four saves, while Erik Chaffe earned the win with eight saves on 10 Wausau chances and Ryan Knight stopped four of the Cyclones’ five shots in the third period. Miscevich made 41 saves, taking the exhibition loss for Wausau.
The regular season begins in earnest for the Toros, who make their regular-season debut on Saturday, with the opening puck drop scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Mason City Arena. Single-game tickets for upcoming Mason City home games are available online – to purchase tickets for any Toros home game in 2021-22, call 641-450-0914 or click here.
