Willmar Swept in Home and Home vs North Iowa

Nov 2, 2020

The Willmar Warhawks hosted North Iowa Friday night in the first of a home and home with the 1st place Bulls. North Iowa took the lead 3 minutes in and never looked back rolling to a 13-3 victory. Trailing 8-0 after one, Willmar scored early in the second. It was Owen Thomas scoring his 1st of the year to get the Warhawks on the board. Ben Johnson, and Jeremiah Konkel picked up the assists, but the Bulls put up 4 more goals for 12-1 lead after two. Willmar came out with 2 quick goals in the 3rd period, but that was as close as they got. Drew Sandy and Caden Sunde each picked up their 2nd goals of the year. Michael Sweetland, and Brady O’Brien set up Sandy’s goal, and Louis Anders and Elbridge DeKraai assisted on Sunde’s goal.
Saturday Night the Warhawks traveled to Mason City for another crack at the Bulls but came up short in a 5-2 loss. North Iowa picked up where they left off on Friday scoring 1:41 into the first, but Willmar responded quickly tying the game 1-1 when Jack Willis scored his 4th of the year on an assist from Owen Thomas. North Iowa scored the lone goal in the second period, and then erupted for 3 goals in a 2 minute span midway through the 3rd period to take control. Willmar’s Cole Wigestrand scored his 1st of the season late in the 3rd with Ethan Light and Michael Sweetland picking up the assists. That pulled Willmar to within 5-2 but there wasn’t enough time for a comeback. Coach Kirk Olimb said, “I’m proud of the boys rebounding from the tough Friday night with a strong showing Saturday.”
Willmar (2-7-0 – 4 pts) will play a tripleheader this weekend, traveling back to Mason City to take on North Iowa (7-2-0 – 10 pts) for the third straight time. Puck drops at 7:30 pm. Then on Saturday they will play in New Ulm at 7:10 pm, before finishing the weekend at home on Sunday where the Steel will visit the Willmar Civic Center Arena for a 1 pm puck drop. Get your tickets at tickets.willmarwarhawks.com for Sunday’s game at the Willmar Civic Center Arena. Catch any game on hockeytv.com