Mason City, IA- The Mason City Toros closed their weekend with a tight game against the Rochester Grizzlies on Sunday that the Grizzlies emerged victorious from, 4-1.
The game was dead even through the first two periods. Neither team figured out the goaltending in the first while both teams got one goal on the board in the second. Andrew Bastian opened the scoring 5:35 into the game on a break-in for Rochester. Aaron Sawicki stuffed a puck home with less than a minute to go in the frame to tie the game at 1-1 before the intermission.
Rochester tipped the scales in their favor in the third period and landed three goals in the stanza. Matt Haun scored what ended up being the game’s winning goal 4:47 into the frame. Owen Van Tassel and Leo Milan added exclamation mark goals to extend the lead and ultimately the Grizzlies’ record to 25-4-1-1.
The Toros fall to 15-16-2 but stay in fourth place for the NA3HL’s West Division’s final playoff spot.
Drew Blake recorded 29 saves on 33 shots faced in the Toros’ net. Tate Cothern stopped 25 of 26 shots at the Grizzlies net.
Mason City hits the road for just one game next weekend against the Grizzlies at Rochester. Puck drops on Friday, January 12th, at 7:05 PM ET.