Mason City, IA- The Mason City Toros welcomed a long time rival to the Mason City Arena on Saturday night and earned a badly needed 3-2 victory over the Granite City Lumberjacks.
The Toros opened the night with three power play attempts and a successful penalty kill in the first period. Their first two attempts were unsuccessful, but a great effort from Toros rookie and Shattuck St. Mary’s alumnus Christian Plaga put the Toros ahead with just nine seconds left in the first frame.
The Toros’ offensive push continued with a hot start in the second. Assistant Captain TJ Gibson netted his 20th goal of the season to tie the team lead in goals and extend the Toro lead to 2-0 less than two minutes into the middle stanza. Granite City hung tight though. Micah Saxon struck a power play goal with 43 seconds left that set the score at 2-1 at second intermission.
Toros rookie forward Jason Williams extended the Toro lead to 3-1 midway through the 3rd period. Granite did not quit. Eli Tiernan notched a power play tally and the Lumberjacks almost completed the comeback but fell just short with the Toros hanging on for a 3-2 victory.
Christian Plaga concluded his night with a goal and an assist for two points, his 15th multi-point game of the season.
Luke Gustafson, Mason Buchanan, and Ayden Bahr all added assists in the offensive effort.
A new addition made a big difference in net. Goaltender Jannes Kamp posted a 28 save performance on 30 shots faced in his Toros debut after arriving from the Lumberjacks earlier in the week.
Mason City concludes their weekend set against the rival Lumberjacks on Sunday afternoon at 12:30 PM at the Mason City Arena.