For Wausau Pilot & Review

WAUSAU – The Wausau Cyclones junior hockey team welcomed the Willmar WarHawks to Marathon Park over the weekend in an out-of-conference matchup, and swept the two-game series, winning 7-2 on Friday and 2-1 on Saturday night to move their season record to 10-5-0-0.

In Friday’s game, Wausau got off to an extremely slow start and trailed 2-0 just 3:25 into the game. The Cyclones answered back in a big way as they scored three goals in just over two minutes of game play later in the first frame. Goals were credited to Mario Savino, Ricky Nelson and Antonio Gomez.

The second period saw Wausau extend its lead to a 5-2 advantage. John Kriz netted his sixth of the season and forward Gabe Randel notched his team leading ninth goal of the season. Wausau added two more goals in the third period to close out the 7-2 victory.

Saturday night’s game proved to be a much different game as Wausau looked to earn the weekend sweep. After a scoreless first period, the Cyclones got on the board first with a goal from Kriz at 7:56 of the second period. The goal was assisted by Nelson and Isaac Baker. Willmar tied the game at 1-1 at 15:12 of the second period as Willmar forward Scott Woltman got one past Wausau goalie Tanner Bonjernoor.

After 16 minutes of scoreless play in the third period, Anderson Brien netted the game-winning goal on a breakaway, which kept the Cyclones perfect home record intact. Bonjernoor earned the win net after making 23 saves.

Wausau Cyclones hockey is back at home this Friday versus Oregon for Military Appreciation presented by Eye Clinic of Wisconsin. All veterans and current service members receive free admission. Puck drops at 7:10 p.m. The teams will travel south to Oregon to play again on Saturday night at 7:35 p.m. Visit wausaucyclones.com for tickets.

The Cyclones are members of the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL), one of three USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III Junior leagues, serves as one of the top training grounds in the country by providing the best coaching, exposure and developmental vehicles available for student-athletes in its classification.  The primary mission of the NA3HL is to provide a structured developmental environment for student-athletes who have aspirations of playing in the NAHL or United States Hockey League and eventually the NCAA or American College Hockey Association.  For more information, visit wausaucyclones.com.