Blizzard fall to fourth in West Division after two weekend losses

By Jared Rubado

January 08, 2020 at 9:22 AM

The Alexandria Blizzard dropped down to fourth place in the NA3HL last weekend after losses to Rochester and Granite City.

The Blizzard we shutout on Saturday by the Lumberjacks 4-0. Bailey Sommers had a hat trick including two goals late in the first period.

Alexandria goaltender Ville Hyttinen made 36 saves on 40 shots. Granite City goalie Nate Johnson had 26 saves in his 12th win of the year.

Johnson is putting together a remarkable season for the Lumberjacks. He is 12-0 with two shutouts, a 1.54 goals-against average and has stopped 93.5% of shots.

On Friday night, Alexandria lost to Rochester at the Runestone Community Center. Nolan Westera scored the lone goal for the Blizzard before the Grizzlies broke through with six unanswered.

The Blizzard are back in action on Friday night at home against North Iowa. The Bulls are holding a four-point lead over Granite City for first place in the West.

ALEXANDRIA 0 0 0 - 0

GRANITE CITY 2 1 1 - 4

SCORING- FIRST PERIOD- Granite City- Bailey Sommers (unassisted) 16:39; Granite City- Sommers (Ryan Pogue, Troy Dahlheimer) 19:28; SECOND PERIOD- Granite City- Nicholas Richert (Jonah Jangula, Tristan Birdsall) 0:50; THIRD PERIOD- Granite City- Sommers (Jack Helle, Dahlheimer) 0:31; PENALTIES- Alexandria- 6 minutes on 3 infractions; Granite City- 8 minutes on 4 infractions; GOALTENDING- Alexandria- Ville Hyttinen, L, 36 saves, 4 goals allowed; Granite City- Nate Johnson, W, 26 saves, 0 goals allowed;

ROCHESTER 0 4 2 - 6

ALEXANDRIA 1 0 0 - 1

SCORING- FIRST PERIOD- Alexandria- Nolan Wester (Dallas Duckson, Carter Rieland) 9:30; SECOND PERIOD- Rochester- Clayton Shultz (Lucas Newman, Jesper Hofling) 1:27; Rochester- Hunter Wimes (Garrett Smith, Michael Heitkamp) 5:02; Rochester- Logan Olson (Newman, Hofling) power play, 13:31; Rochester- Shultz (Zakary Justice); THIRD PERIOD- Rochester- Wilmes (Hofling) 5:35; Rochester- Justice (Devin Hays, Shultz) 12:43; PENALTIES- Alexandria 49 minutes on 10 infractions; Rochester 10 minutes on 5 infractions; GOALTENDING- Alexandria- Ville Hyttinen L, 23 saves, 4 goals allowed; Bailey Rosch, 9 saves, 2 goals allowed; Rochester- Shane Soderwall, W, 24 saves, 1 goal allowed

By Jared Rubado

Jared Rubado is the sports editor for the Detroit Lakes Tribune and the Perham Focus. He moved to the area in September of 2021 after covering sports for the Alexandria Echo Press for nearly three years. Jared graduated from the University of Augustana in 2018 with degrees in journalism and sports managment.