Blake Ulve scored twice and the Toros rallied from two down after the first period to defeat the Willmar WarHawks, 6-4, in Game 1 of the West Division Semifinals on Thursday night at the Mason City Arena.
Mason City scored the game’s first goal but surrendered three consecutive to trail 3-1 after the first period. They would score the game’s next four goals, three of which came in the second period, before Willmar got on the board again.
Ulve picked up Mason City’s second power play goal of the night at the 12:03 mark of the second period to cut the deficit to one. Sota Isogai and Jordan Newpower rounded out the period with goals less than two minutes apart to give the Toros the lead for good. Ulve banked home a feed from Carter Newpower 23 seconds into the final frame for his second of the night.
Ulve may have gotten the hat trick if Luke Stevens had not redirected an Ulve shot at the 7:30 mark of the first for Mason City’s first power play goal of the game. Derek Humphreys scored the Toros’ other goal at 11:06 of the third period.
The Toros can advance to the second round of the postseason with a victory on Friday night. They travel to Willmar to face the WarHawks at 7:10 p.m. If the win, then the Toros advance to face the winner of the Alexandria-Granite City series in the West Division Finals next weekend. If the the Toros lose, then they will host the WarHawks on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Mason City Arena.
