Mason City, IA- In the first game of their final weekend homestand before Christmas break, the North Iowa Bulls fell in a shootout to the Bismarck Bobcats.
The Bulls drew first blood with a Hayden Siegel breakaway goal with 4:13 left in the opening stanza. The goal was Siegel’s fourth this season.
Bismarck answered quickly in the next period with Kade Kohanski potting a roofed shot 23 seconds into the frame. The Bulls followed by creating havoc around the net and capitalized with Nolan Grier punching in his fifth goal of the season to put the Bulls back ahead. Mason City Toro call ups Jax Schauer and Zach Laurila recorded assists on Grier’s goal, the first for each player in the NAHL this season, and Laurila’s first career NAHL point in two games as a Bull.
The Bobcats capitalized on a power play following a tripping call early in the third period. With just three seconds left on the man-advantage, Matthew Rafalski wired a puck inside the post and knotted the score even at two apiece, where it stayed for the remainder of regulation.
For the second straight game, the Bulls went to overtime. They dodged falling in the overtime session when Evan Hunter was whistled for a holding penalty as he shot the puck to win the game. Instead, North Iowa skated through a full power play and generated some chaos at the net but were unable to cash in and win the game.
Overtime wound down and for the fifth time this season and second straight game, the Bulls needed a shootout. Sadly, this shootout saw the Bulls fall just short. Evan Hunter and Tamas Toth scored for the Bobcats. Jack Seaverson and Ethan Lindahl were stopped by Klayton Knapp.
For the game, Knapp stopped 23 of 25 shots in the Bismarck net.
North Iowa goalie Dylan Johnson stopped 36 of 38 shots on his net.
The Bulls and Bobcats conclude their weekend series on Saturday night. Puck drops at 7:10 PM at the Mason City Arena.