ROCHESTER, MN – The fourth line was the story for the Rochester Grizzlies Saturday evening. Ben Tschida scored two goals while Erik Hernborn added a goal and two assists as the Grizzlies toppled the Wausau Cyclones 6-2 on Military Appreciation Night. The win marks the ninth straight for the Grizzlies, the second-best in the NA3HL at the moment.
It was Zach Laurila who started off the scoring for Rochester, finishing off his own rebound on the power play to make it 1-0. Laurlia’s sixth of the season came at 9:13 of the first period. Just 15 seconds later, Tschida finished off a great pass from Hernborn and hammered a shot past Mitch Miscevich to make it 2-0 for the Grizzlies. After a slew of penalties in the second half of the period, Adam Wiggins cut the lead to 2-1 after scoring a power-play goal for the Cyclones at 15:24 of the first.
It was all Rochester in the second period. Lyncoln Bielenberg-Howarth, back in the lineup after an injury, scored a highlight reel goal, sliding a backhand past Miscevich to make it 3-1 for the home team. Hernborn would tally his goal by taking advantage of a misplay by Miscevich behind his own net, who turned the puck over to Hernborn and he fired the puck into an empty net.
Wausau would make it interesting at 1:39 of the third as Gage Vierzba beat Kaleb Bents from the slot to make it 4-2. Tschida would collect his second goal at 7:14 of the third, tipping home a point shot from Gavin Mears. Hernborn collected his second assist of the game as the secondary assist. Maksim Lakic, in just his second game with the Grizzlies, scored his first career NA3HL goal at 10:48 to round out the scoring.
Rochester is now 14-2 on the season, good for 28 points, and comfortably in first place in the Central Division. The Grizzlies are on the road next weekend for two games against the Oregon Tradesmen and are back home on Nov. 18 and 19 against the Milwaukee Power.