Post Game Report 12-16
BLAINE, Minn. – Nothing at the NA3HL Showcase, just a week before Christmas, will be gifted to the North Iowa Bulls or anybody else. The Bulls wouldn’t have minded not having to deal with a Grinch in the Texas Jr. Brahmas net, though – Tyler Myers denied 35 of North Iowa’s 37 shots and both of their chances in the shootout for a 3-2 Texas win on Friday, snapping the Bulls’ five-game winning streak.
The teams went nearly halfway through the regulation session without a single goal before Melker Kroon swatted one into the net on a toss to the right-wing faceoff circle at the 9:30 mark of the second period. Kroon scored again on a long rebound at 3:32 of the third to give the Jr. Brahmas a 2-0 lead.
The Bulls were far from done – just before the halfway mark of the third period, Mitch Parsons (Grandville, Mich./North Iowa Bulls) swept into the high slot for a face-and-fire goal to cut the lead to one – the first assist on that goal came from Ryan Newman (Bakersfield, Calif./Northeast Generals), the first for the former Northeast General. Mitch Dolter (Faribault, Minn./Shattuck-St. Mary’s) took a mid-slot pass from Owen Larson (Edina, Minn./North Iowa Bulls) at 12:16 of the period, whizzing it past Myers to tie the game at two apiece.
The shootout was a quick one, with Kroon scoring the only goal of the extra session in the second round for a virtual hat-trick. Brady Meyers (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall H.S.) took the loss for the Bulls, stopping 28 of the 30 shots he saw during the 65-minute contest, and one of the Brahmas’ two shots in the shootout. North Iowa fell to 22-4-0 for the year, while the Jr. Brahmas rose to 20-2-0, and extended their own run to nine straight wins.
“Maybe we took them for granted a bit,” says Parsons. “They’re a good team and they took it to us. With our past everybody wants to beat us, and they beat us fair and square.”
The Bulls will be looking to deny the NA3HL’s top team a slice of history when they meet Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in Blaine. The Metro Jets’ 3-1 win over Breezy Point gives them a 26-0-0 start to the season, and a win over the Bulls would mean a tie for the longest winning streak in league history. All Bulls games, home and away, are streamed live on HockeyTV – all home games and select road games are also audio-streamed live on Mixlr.