DES MOINES, Iowa — The top-seed Mason City Mohawks, with a regular-season record of 27-3-3, and the 2nd-seed Omaha Jr. Lancers gave a championship performance Sunday afternoon. Omaha came to the tournament with a 10-game winning streak but had never beaten Mason City during the regular season.  The championship game featured multiple lead changes but in the end, the 4-3 margin of victory went to Mason City. Congratulations Mohawks!
Unlike the upset-laden Varsity tournament the week before, most games went as expected. The tournament included 3 shutouts, 2 OT games, 1 upset and 1 natural hat trick. Hats off to the Des Moines planning committee for a fine job organizing the JV State Tournament and hosting Saturday night's All-Star game and pre-game festivities.

Friday
Game 1: Mason City 4, Omaha Gladiators 0
Despite a rocky start and short-handed play, Gladiators' goalie Conrad Garcia kept Omaha in the game through the 2nd period, as the Mohawks outshot the Gladiators 36-12. Jacob Bushbaum and Alex Maginnis scored for Mason City in the 1st period, Brad Bissig increased the lead by 1 in the 3rd, and Spencer Neuberger added a controversial 4th goal late in the final period to end the contest 4-0, giving Mason City goalie Brent Frein the shutout.

Game 2: Kansas City 2, Sioux City 1, OT
Two evenly matched teams mixed it up with strong defensive play and end-to-end action as the Metros and Jr. Blades faced off in game 2. Kansas City's Zach Evans found the net early in the 2nd period. Late in the 3rd, Metros' Kyle Bennett tied the game in regulation but Jim Wohl's overtime goal, assisted by Taylor Kennedy, advanced the Jr. Blades.

Game 3: Omaha Jr. Lancers 3, Des Moines Oak Leafs 0
In a quick-paced game, Bryce Butt lit the lamp for the Lancers early in the 1st with an assist from Derek Spady. Danny Evans added a powerplay goal from Kyle Jones and Blaine Siebels early in the 2nd. With under a minute left in the game, Jr. Lancers' Chris Sculley knocked in a short-handed empty-netter to give Omaha the win and a shutout for goalie Tom Steigleder.

Game 4: Des Moines Capitals 1 Lincoln 2
A little dump-and-chase, a little give-and-go, and the Lincoln Jr. Stars drew 1st blood with a goal by Peter Worth, assisted by Matt Kinning in the opening minutes of the game. Lincoln then notched a power play goal by Charlie Davis from Michael Lucchino to finish the scoring in the 1st period. The wide open play continued through the 2nd period, with the added excitement of a successful penalty shot by Capitals Eric Keese to come within one. Time ended before any more scoring, giving the Lincoln Jr Stars the win and the only upset of the day.

Saturday
Game 5: Sioux City 4, Omaha Gladiators 3 OT
Scoring came as quickly as this 8:00 am morning start time seemed to. Sioux City fell behind early, 2-0, when Omaha's Connor Meigs scored at :37 and Cody Morris at 1:18. Sioux City got on the board when Ben Kambach scored at 2:07. The teams trade goals in the 2nd period. Sioux City's Dan Limoges tied the game :24 into the period and Danny O'Connell put Omaha back up by 1 at 6:57. The only goal in the 3rd period was Kyle Bennett's game tying goal for Sioux City at 10:28 to send the game to overtime. With only 37 seconds left in the 1st overtime Tyler Hansen scored for the Metros to earn Sioux City a spot in Sunday's 5th-place game.

Game 6: Des Moines Capitals 3, Des Moines Oak Leafs 1
The Oak Leafs killed a 2-man advantage to end the 1st period in a 0-0 tie, however, fierce pressure from the Caps led to a 2-1 score by the end of the 2nd. First the Caps scored with a goal by Derek Elliott from Nate Jacobs. The Oak Leafs returned fire with a redlighter from Brendan France assisted by Dustin Shannon. The next Capitals' goal would prove to be the game-winner, shot by Tim Ramsey from Derek Elliott. An insurance goal would follow from a Patrick Falvey pass to Ames Cross. The Oak Leafs rallied in the 3rd but could not break through goaltender Steven Erbstein.

Game 7: Mason City 4, Kansas City 3
The mutual desire of these two teams to continue their winning ways was evident from the drop of the puck. Time and again goalies Brent Frein and Nate Laster rose to the occasion. Mason City eventually broke through Kansas City's defense in the final seconds of period 1 with a goal by Spencer Neuberger from Alex Maginnis and Gilberto Solivan. The energized Mohawks added another goal early in the 2nd when Brad Bissig buzzed 1 home from Alex Maginnis and Gilberto Solivan. Then the penalty minutes began to accumulate. Several power plays later Kansas City's Bryan Beaman scored on a pass from Max Powers. Mohawk Brad Bissig answered back, assisted by Ryan Winchester. Gilberto Solivan and Brad Bissig combined for another Mason City goal before the end of period 2. Taylor Kennedy's 2 goals in the 3rd, with an assist by Jemarcus Best proved too little too late for the Jr. Blades.

Game 8: Omaha Jr. Lancers 4, Lincoln Jr. Stars 2
Omaha's Zach Dettmer, assisted by Kyle Jones and Danny Evans, scored first in this all-Nebraska contest with the Lincoln Jr. Stars. Relentless pressure by the Jr. Lancers proved too much for a Jr. Star comeback as Omaha had pulled ahead by a margin of 4-0 at the end of period 2. Lancer scoring included goals by Bryce Butt from Derek Spady, Zach Doise from Jacob Braun, and Patrick Laird from Joe Bailey. Lincoln spoiled a possible shutout early in the 3rd with a goal by Brain Lamoueaux from Adam Cownie. Michael Lucchino, assisted by Joe Horacek and Brian Lamoureaux added another tally for the Jr. Stars but they could not close the gap by the end of regulation.

Sunday
Game 9: Des Moines Oak Leafs 3, Omaha Gladiators 0
It was a slow start for Des Moines and Omaha in Sunday's early game as the teams scored only 1 goal in the 1st 2 periods. It came early in the 2nd at :27 when the Oaks' Brendan France scored with an assist from Tyler Carter. In the 3rd period Des Moines forward Andres Wieczner scored a pair of goals at 6:02 and 11:11, with assists from defensive mate Zach Corsbie, to close the scoring. Des Moines goaltender Tim Thomas recorded the shutout. The Oak Leafs outshot the Gladiators 35-12. The teams were whistled for 14 penalties.

Game 10: Des Moines Capitals 4, Sioux City 3
Sioux City took the early lead on an unassisted goal by Javi Jackson. Des Moines then exploded for 3 unanswered goals in a little over a minute, coming by Nate Jacobs from Ames Cross, Ames Cross from Nate Jacobs and Derek Elliot, and Chris Disbro, unassised. Both teams traded goals in the 2nd – Sioux City's Chris Deck from Kyle Bennett, and Des Moines' Eric Keese from Tim Ramsey – as the penalty minutes began to mount. Sioux City drew closer in the 3rd with a tally by Daniel Limoges from Ben Kambach but the Capitals kept the pressure on and time ran out for the Metros.

Game 11: Kansas City 5, Lincoln 1
Fans saw a couple of tournament "firsts" in this game, Taylor Kennedy's natural hat trick notching the 1st 3 points for Kansas City, and the Jr. Blades scoring the most goals (5) by a team in the competition. Teammates Boyd Powers and Jim Wohl assisted on Kennedy's 3 goals. Charlie Davis' redlighter, from Adam Cownie, spoiled the potential shutout and earned the only point for Lincoln. Jim Wohl teamed up with Taylor Kennedy once more in the 3rd period and Bryan Beaman, assisted by Zac Buckmiller, added another goal to complete the scoring for Kansas City.

Game 12: Mason City 4, Omaha Jr. Lancers 3
Intensity is expected at the championship level and the see-saw battle through 2 periods did not disappoint. The Jr. Lancers opened the scoring with a goal by Bryce Butt, assisted by Brad Mrsny, which was answered by Mohawk Zach Buss from a Gilberto Solivar pass. Then it was Chris Sculley, assisted by Adam Peters who added Omaha's next point, answered again by Alex Huegli from Josh Klocke and Jacob Bushbaum. Mason City scored first in the 2nd period, with an unassisted goal by Sean Barlow. Omaha tied it 12 seconds later with a goal by Kyle Jones from Danny Evans and Blaine Siebels. At 10:07 of the 3rd period, Mason City again took the lead on a goal by Brad Bissig from Alex Maginnis. The Jr. Lancers, who were unable to beat the Mohawks during the regular season, again came up 1 goal short and Mason City was crowned tournament champions.

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