The Granite City Lumberjacks relied on the scoring touch of Blayne Ellson, who netted two goals, to beat the North Iowa Bulls, 6-2.

Ellson found the back of the net 16:44 into the second period to make the score 3-2 Granite City and again while 6:02 into the third to make the score 4-2 Granite City.

Granite City pulled out the victory even though it was hit with 34 penalty minutes.

Both teams had a hard time staying out of the box, and they combined for 26 penalties during the game.

The defensemen of the Lumberjacks were also effective in North Iowa's zone, and came away with four goals.

Granite City also got points from Austin Buckholz, who also finished with one goal and one assist and Nick LaRue, who also grabbed one goal and one assist. DJ Vold also scored for Granite City. In addition, Granite City received assists from Matt Raiola, Peter Lindblad, Aaron Azevedo, Riley Bengtson, and Nathan Kohlenhoefer, who contributed one each and Tyler Stoller and TJ Christenson, who each chipped in two.

The Bulls racked up the penalties in the contest, and ended with 10 minors and two majors for 40 minutes in penalty time. The total exceeded the 24 minutes per game North Iowa had been spending in the box.

The Bulls were helped by Noah Anderson, who tallied one goal. Anderson scored 16:05 into the second period to make the score 2-2. Carson Gray assisted on the tally. North Iowa got a goal from Eric Behrend as well. More assists for North Iowa came via Matt Kroska, who had one.

Matt Grove recorded 20 saves for Granite City. The Lumberjacks registered one goal on six power play opportunities. North Iowa's Jackson Steltmann stopped 18 shots out of the 24 that he faced. The Bulls registered one goal on eight power play opportunities.