Liut, Ludwig and Mazzolini lead Tornado to sweep of Jr. Blues
September 23, 2004 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release
National Championship hangover? Not a chance, as The Texas Tornado extened its winning streak to 20 by sweeping the Springfield Jr. Blues to open the 2004-05 season.
Justin Liut and Tyler Ludwig had two goals a piece as the Texas Tornado stormed past the Springfield Jr. Blues 5-1 on Saturday night.
Tornado rookie forward Ben Grotting added the other Tornado goal.
Tornado goaltender Ben Bishop, who got his first Junior A win in net the night before, was once again solid between the pipes on Saturday, only allowing one goal on the night to get his second consecutive win.
After Springfield scored first, the Tornado quickly answered for the second night in a row with a goal from Ludwig less than :20 seconds later.
Liut made it 2-1 and the Tornado never looked back with three more goals in the second and third period.
Nick Mazzolini had two goals himself on Friday as the Tornado began their season with a road win over the Jr. Blues.
The opening night game began with a flurry of goals, five in the first eight minutes to be exact. The Jr. Blues scored first, but that was answered just seconds later by a goal from Karl Sellan.
The Jr. Blues would go up 2-1, but goals from Mazzolini and Tom Train would give the Tornado a 3-2 lead heading into the intermission.
The lone second period goal came again off the stick of Mazzolini and the Tornado led 4-2 heading into the third period.
A Mike Salens power play goal made it 5-2 and put the game out of reach.
In extending their regular and post season winning streak to 20 games, Texas sits atop of the South Division with a 2-0-0 record to start the season.
North American Hockey League Stories from September 23, 2004
- Liut, Ludwig and Mazzolini lead Tornado to sweep of Jr. Blues - Texas Tornado
- Indians drop season opener for first time ever - Soo Indians
- Bulls edged by IceDogs in season opener - Billings Bulls
- Jets start the season with a win - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
- Spirit defenseman headed for University of Wisconsin - Alaska Avalanche
- Smolinski and Fedotenko highlight all-Ohio week for IceDiggers - Alpena IceDiggers
- Developement teams take three games in opening weekend - U.S. National Team
- Barons sweep weekend at the Soo - Cleveland Barons
- Icedogs vs. Bighorns tonight - Bozeman Icedogs
- Phantoms Defeat Ice Diggers - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
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