Mason City, IA- The North Iowa Bulls began their three-game series against the Minnesota Mallards with a convincing 6-3 victory in front of a lively crowd at the Mason City Arena. The win makes it three consecutive for the Bulls and brings North Iowa to within one point of a postseason spot.
The Bulls began the night with a pair of strikes in the first 3:15 of the game. Fuji Suzuki took the 2nd place spot for single season goal scoring in Bulls’ NAHL history just 34 seconds into the game, breaking a tie held previously with former Bulls Captain & current University of Maine skater Max Scott.
Denis Kuzmenkov potted the next Bulls tally to run his season total to 14 and stretch his goal-scoring streak to four consecutive games. He added an assist later in the game to give him six points in his last four games.
After the Mallards chipped away at the lead with a Ty Gordon tally in the first period, North Iowa struck twice on the power play in the second period. Denis Hodas and Mike Malatino did their part to extend the lead to 4-1. Wes Berg potted a Mallards’ even strength goal to cut the lead to 4-2 before intermission.
The third period saw two more Bulls’ power play goals. Andrej Tomasec began with his third goal in just his ninth game after arriving from playing in Czechia. Ty Gordon returned fire with his second goal of the game, marking the first multi-goal game of his NAHL career and making the score 5-3 before the Bulls ended the scoring on Denis Hodas’ second power play tally and 12th goal of the season to win 6-3.
Hodas finished with a two goal, three point night, marking the second consecutive three-point game and the second highest single-game point total of his 94 game, two season spanning career, all spent with the Bulls.
Bulls’ defenseman Zach Howard notched a three-assist game for three points, the best since arriving to the Bulls from the Minnesota Wilderness, and a career high for a single game in his two-season long career.
Brody Dietz added two assists to become the third Bulls defenseman to record 30 assists in a single NAHL season after current Army skater Sean Vlasich (33) and current Northern Michigan University player Evan Johnson (31).
The Bulls continue their series against the Mallards with a 7:10 PM puck drop at the Mason City Arena on Friday night.