International Falls fought through the effects of a two-week layoff Friday and tied No. 6 Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl 3-3 at Bronco Arena.

“We’ve been in lots of games with good teams and maybe we’ll start to turn the corner now,” Broncos head coach John Prettyman said.

In front of an enthusiastic crowd fueled by the Dirty Dozen, the Broncos fought off a sluggish start and nearly pulled off their biggest win of the season. They’ll settle for the tie, however, especially after the layoff.

“A tie with this team is as good as a win,” said Broncos senior Jordan Christianson, who scored the game-tying goal with 1:44 to play. “We’ve been struggling with the good teams.”

The layoff — the Broncos hadn’t played since Jan. 9 — came after Greenway dropped International Falls from its schedule. The Broncos were scheduled to play the Raiders Jan. 15, but the cancellation caused the 13-day layoff.

“We were flat a little bit in the first period and got better as we went on,” Christianson said.

The Broncos were outshot 15-3 through the first period and three minutes into the second, but trailed only 1-0. Brandon Richards tallied his first career goal at the 9:40 mark of the second to tie it 1-1.

Jon McDonald, who finished with two points, put the Broncos up 2-1 early in the third, but the Blue Devils (12-5-3) rebounded and made it 2-2 on a goal from Travis Eddy. Jordan Krebsbach made it 3-2 at the 12:07 mark before Christianson tied it on the power play. McDonald and Willie Corrin assisted the game-tying goal.

“We were lucky to be hanging in there and Glenn had a good game,” Christianson said.

Glenn Walls stopped 29 shots for the Broncos (9-6-1), while Casey Myhre had 20 saves for the Blue Devils.

The Broncos return to action Tuesday at Ely before traveling Friday to Grand Rapids.

I. Falls 3,

Virginia/MI-Buhl 3

V 1 0 2—3

IF 0 1 2—3

First period — V, Tyler Goodrie (Trey Carlson), 10:04.

Second period — IF, Brandon Richards (Chris Little), 9:40.

Third period — IF, Jon McDonald (Jordan Christianson, Matt Youso), PP, 1:07; V, Travis Eddy (Tom Norlander, Wes Judnick), 3:58; V, Jordan Krebsbach (Eddy), 12:07; IF, Christianson (McDonald, Willie Corrin), PP, 15:16.

Goalies — V, Casey Myhre, 20 saves; IF, Glenn Walls, 29 saves.

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