Express Earn Weekend Sweep of North Iowa

Published on November 26, 2005 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Owatonna Express News Release


OWATONNA - When the Southern Minnesota Express and North Iowa Outlaws met twice during the first week of the season, there was little to separate the two NAHL expansion franchises. Both teams were unproven and each team won a game. Fast forward to Thanksgiving and the two clubs bear almost no resemblance. North Iowa is winless in the month of November, following a second consecutive drubbing at the hands of the Express. The result, a 6-1 Express victory in front of 721 spectators at the Four Seasons Centre, was a carbon copy of Friday's 9-2 Southern Minnesota victory. "We got on them early and often," said Express Coach Pat Cullen. "We have been playing pretty well and they looked a little bit rusty."

The victory raised the Train's season record to 14-8-3. That was good enough to share first place with the Fargo-Moorhead Jets for an hour or so Saturday night. Then the Jets scored on a penalty shot in the last two minutes of their game with the Minnesota Blizzard before taking the shootout victory. The Express conclude the month of November with a record of 8-1-2. The team was 5-7-1 in October.

Ryan Guentzel, PJ Kavaya, Brian Schack, and Mike Montgomery each had a goal and an assist for the Express. Jeff Carlson and Jason Wiley also scored for Southern Minnesota. Wiley has scored 11 times in his last nine games. "We feel like we match up pretty well with North Iowa," Cullen said. "We feel like we have a lot of depth. We just try to control what we can control and hope that's good enough."

This weekend it was more than good enough as the Express dominated the Outlaws from beginning to end. The two teams will meet again next weekend - at 5:05 p.m. Saturday in Owatonna and at 1:35 p.m. Sunday in Mason City.

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North American Hockey League Stories from November 26, 2005


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