The Aberdeen Wings traveled to Mason City, IA to take on the North Iowa Bulls for the first games of 2026. They were able to come home with two road wins before looking ahead to again taking on the Bulls in the Odde on Jan. 9th and 10th.
(Friday, Jan. 2 – Mason City Arena, Mason City, IA) To start the weekend in Mason City, the Bulls would come out strong, and the Wings knew they would have to play a defensive and physical game in order to compete in this weekend match. Partway through the first period, the Wings would find themselves on the Penalty Kill after a slashing call, but they would be able to kill it off successfully. Shortly after, the Wings would find themselves on the Power Play, and it would be Matthew Martin who would get his 15th goal of the season, and break the ice. This goal would be assisted by Cooper Anderson and Caden Lee. The Bulls would try some last minute attempts to find the back of the net, but Willum Braun would make some huge saves throughout the game in order to help the Wings. The Wings would head into the locker room with a 1-0 lead.
Right away in the second period, Jonathan Doucette would score for the Wings, getting 6th goal of the season with assists coming from Sam Scheetz, and Cooper Anderson. Just a few minutes after this goal, North Iowa would be on the Power Play, but again the Wings would be up to the task. They would be able to successfully kill off the penalty, and would continue to have the lead throughout the period. There would be a bit of a back-and-forth in the back half of the period, but with no additional scoring in the second period, the Wings would have a 2-0 lead heading into the last period of the night.
To start the third period, the Wings would find themselves yet again on the Power Play, and this time the goal would be scored by Easton Edwards getting him his 13th goal of the season. This goal would be assisted by Price Grimes and Owen Pitters. There would be another penalty that the Wings would have to kill off, but again, they would be successful in the specialty teams competition, not allowing a Power Play goal for the Bulls. Shortly after they would come off the kill, Owen Pitters would net his 16th goal of the season with assists coming from Finn Safir and Brody Dustin. As time would wind down, North Iowa would try and find the back of the net, but Willum Braun would still be up to the task and would not allow a goal to pass by him. The Wings leave the Mason City Arena on Friday with a 4-0 win, and Willum Braun would get his second shutout of the season.
(Saturday, Jan. 3 – Mason City Arena, Mason City, IA) Saturday’s game would start out similarly to Friday as it would be the Wings halfway through the first period who would break the ice yet again. This time, it would be Sam Scheetz netting his 17th goal of the season with assists from Caden Lee and Gavin Reed. Shortly after, they would be playing 4 on 4 hockey, and just as both sides were about to go full-strength, North Iowa would take another penalty, setting the Wings up on the Power Play. Then, at the 5:17 mark, Quinnipiac commit Cooper Anderson would score on the Power Play for the Wings with help from Matthew Martin and Owen Pitters. The Wings would go into period two with a 2-0 lead.
In the second period, the Wings would find themselves on the Penalty Kill, but their specialty teams would find themselves up to the task, just like Friday night as they were able to kill of the penalty successfully. Right after going to full-strength, Brody Dustin would score for the Wings with assists coming from Briggs Orr and Zan Spari-Leben. At this point, the Wings would be continuously outshooting the Bulls, and would have a 3-0 lead heading into the final period of the weekend.
Right away in the third, the Wings would find themselves on yet another Power Play, but instead, it would be North Iowa’s Fugi Suzuki who would go in short-handed and score – breaking Willum Braun’s shutout streak with just over 100 minutes. As a response however, Jack McDonough would score with help from Charlie Burchfield and Gavin Reed. Just under two minutes later, Zan Spari-Leben would score after coming back from the IIHF World Juniors taking place in his home of Bled, Slovenia. This goal would be assisted by Finn Safir and Brody Dustin, extending the Wings lead. After, Denis Hodas would score for the Bulls, but just 30 seconds later, Caden Lee would have the Wings response goal with help from Sam Scheetz and Owen Pitters. The WIngs would be coming back to Aberdeen with a Saturday night win with a score of 6-2.
Willum Braun was again in net on Saturday stopping 23 of 25, and ended the night with a 0.920 SV%.
The Wings now look ahead to the upcoming weekend where they will again face the North Iowa Bulls, but this time on home ice!
Friday, January 9th is New Year, New You Night! Show your YMCA Membership ID at the Lincoln Repair Aberdeen Box Office to get $2 off admission!
Saturday, January 10th is First Responders Night presented by Wireless World! First Responders show ID at the door and get discounted admission also!
You can purchase all of your tickets at tickets.aberdeenwings.com, at all C-Express locations in Aberdeen, and at the Lincoln Repair Aberdeen Box Office located inside the Odde Ice Center!
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