The University of South Florida Ice Bulls took third place in the American Collegiate Hockey Association division III showcase tournament in Sioux Centre, Iowa this past weekend, finishing with two wins and a loss.

The Bulls arrived in Iowa on Wednesday morning to find – well - not a whole lot. There wasn’t much to do in Sioux Center except play hockey, so Bull players settled in and focused on the task at hand.

A Wednesday evening practice at All Seasons Center allowed the boys to shake the cobwebs out and clear their heads.

It seemed to take forever for Thursday night to arrive, but once the Bulls got on the ice to face South Dakota State University, they quickly shook off their jitters and nervous tension.

USF jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Jared Vidovic and extended their lead to 4-1 in the second period on goals by P.J. Morales, Bobby Stecher and Connor Lyons.

Morales, Stecher and Lyons struck again in the third as the Ice Bulls cruised to a 7-3 victory.

The win over South Dakota State set up a Friday night match-up with Oakland University (Mich.)

The Ice Bulls came out strong and built a 2-0 through the first two periods, but it was not enough to hold off the Grizzlies.

Connor Lyons scored twice for the Bulls and USF seemed in control of the game going into locker room for the second intermission. Coach Jay Jodoin cautioned his team to come out strong in the third.

"I knew Oakland wasn't going to just lay down," he said.

Jodoin was right.

Oakland tallied two goals within the first five minutes of the third to knot the game at two.

With less then five minutes left, Oakland took a 3-2 lead and despite pulling goalie Jason Smith, the Ice Bulls were unable to find the net one more time and send the game into overtime.

An empty net goal with 10 seconds left sealed the 4-2 victory for the Grizzlies.

A disappointed Ice Bull squad faced off against Dordt University on Saturday evening to determine third place.

USF came out sluggish and found themselves down 2-0 early in the game.

Lyons sparked the Bulls with two goals to knot the game at two, but. Dordt managed to slip one more past Smith and the Bulls found themselves down once again.

That’s when Ricky Nelson caught fire.

Nelson, who had struggled to find the net in the first two games, shook off his frustration and scored a hat trick as USF stormed back to a 5-3 victory.

Nelson remained low-key after the game.

“Eh, I did ok. I should have gotten some the first two games so I guess I was due,” he said.

-Mike Maharrey