Mason City, IA- The North Iowa Bulls rounded out their weekend with a 6-1 loss to the Austin Bruins in front of a raucous crowd at the Mason City Arena.
Each team notched a power play goal in the first period. Gustav Noren went first, picking the top corner over Bulls goalie Connor Graham. On the second Bulls’ attempt on the man advantage, Captain Blake Ulve punched home a goal to even the score at one apiece. This is the fourth straight game and eighth game in the last ten in which the Bulls have recorded a power play goal.
The teams combined for a thrilling back-and-forth sequence in the middle of the second period with each team threatening to score and being stopped by the goalies. Vilgot Holm held firm in the Austin end of the ice while Santo Simmchen replaced Connor Graham after the first intermission and matched Holm shot for shot until the dam burst. Jackson Luthern and Ocean Wallace scored 28 seconds apart and Alex Laurenza capped the second period’s scoring at 4-1 in Austin’s favor after the second period.
The Bulls got a power play opportunity midway through the third and got a puck into the net. That tally was waived off though, and the Bulls were instead saddled with a five-minute major power play, on which Trip Pendy and Ocean Wallace scored goals to end the night’s total at 6-1 for Austin.
The Bruins win ties them on the points list with the St. Cloud Norsemen for the last playoff spot in the Central Division.
Vilgot Holm stopped 21 of 22 shots on his net.
Santo Simmchen stopped 32 of 37 shots in the Bulls’ crease.
North Iowa faces St. Cloud for a home-and-home series next weekend. Friday night sees the Bulls visit St. Cloud while the series moves to Mason City on Saturday.