The Mason City Mohawk hockey team was back in front of a home crowd recently for the first time in nearly one month.
The Mohawks hosted the Omaha Lancers both days and split games with the visitors from Nebraska.
Omaha 8
Mason City 4
The first game on Saturday, Jan. 6, saw the Mohawks fall 8-4 to the second place Omaha Lancers.
There was glimmers of hope throughout the contest, but early on the Mohawks were down 3-0 after the first buzzer sounded and the first period ended.
The second period saw the Mohawks win the period, 2-1, but were down once more 4-2.
At one point, it was a 3-2 game, but with only nine seconds remaining in the second, Josiah Roby, of the Lancers, snuck a goal past Mason City’s goalie, Nathan Foster, ending the period, 4-2.
The third period continued to go the way of Omaha. The Lancers scored two quick goals, Mason City answered with two of their own. At the end of the contest, the Lancers put two goals in seconds apart to win the first game of the weekend.
Scoring for the Mohawks was Kellen Kantaris with two goals, Hudson Carney with one and Noah Honn with one.
Nathan Foster had 26 shots against him and saved 18.
Omaha’s goalie, Eli Simard had 39 shots against him and saved 35.
Mason City 3
Omaha 0
The Mohawks came back with a vengeance on Sunday and outscored the Lancers 3-0, not allowing a goal.
The first period came and went, with both goalies staying busy as Omaha had 13 shots on goal and Mason City had nine. Neither goalie allowed anything into the net for a scoreless first period.
The second period saw the Mohawks get on the board with a score by Noah Honn, who was assisted by Brayden Pearce and Emmett Riley.
The period came to an end with the Mohawks up 1-0 with one period to go.
The third saw Kellen Kantaris score late in the period with 6:14 remaining. He was assisted by Dylan Bieber and Hudson Carney. He came back with another goal with 3:43 left in the contest and was assisted by Pearce and Bieber once more.
Foster had 34 shots against him and 34 saves, while the Lancer’s goalie, Connor Woodsmall, had 26 shots against and 23 saves.
Mason City 6
DM Capitals 3
The Mohawks won their second in a row with a victory over the visiting Des Moines Capitals on Thursday, Jan. 11, defeating them 6-3 despite being down early in the contest.
The first period saw the Capitals score to take a 1-0 lead off a Jase Stanbrough goal. The period ended with Des Moines ahead 1-0.
The second period saw the Mohawks find openings in the Capital defense with Dylan Bieber scoring early in the second with an assist by Kellen Kantaris and again just two-minutes later to put Mason City in the lead.
Kantaris found the net as well with assists by Emmett Riley and Bieber just :40 seconds later and the Mohawks were sitting good at 3-1.
Closing the gap, the Capitals found an opening in Mohawks goalie Nathan Foster’s defense with 4:24 to go in the second period to make it a 3-2 contest. With six seconds to go before the buzzer, Brayden Pearce with an assist from Bieber, put the Mohawks ahead 4-2.
The third period saw plenty more offense with three goals scored in the frame collectively.
It took a few minutes, but the Capitals again closed the gap with 6:14 to go in the game with a goal and it was now 4-3.
Hudson Carney put some insurance in the net on an assist by Kantaris and Lane Hansen that put the Mohawks up 5-3.
Thomas Medline wanted a piece of the action as well and just nine seconds after Carney’s goal, Medline found an open goal to put the Capitals down 6-3.
The Mohawks will be back on the ice in Lincoln, Neb. Saturday, Jan. 27 and Sunday, Jan. 28 before seeing the Capitals again Friday, Feb. 2 in Des Moines and having a run of four games at home from Feb. 3 to Feb. 11.
