Mason City, IA- The North Iowa Bulls earned a statement 4-1 victory on Friday night over the Austin Bruins to begin a weekend series in the closest geographic rivalry that the North American Hockey League has to offer, powered by a record setting night by Captain Brody Dietz.
The Bulls opened the scoring right away in the first period when Fuji Suzuki ripped home a highlight power play tally to put the team out in front just 2:26 into the game. The rest of the first period was defined by the Bulls penalty kill, who survived a 5-on-3 Austin power play to hold their lead going into the first intermission.
North Iowa potted a pair of goals in the second period when Joe Coghlin punched in a turned over puck to extend the lead early in the second period. Then, late in the frame, Vitaliy Korolyuk created a breakaway and netted a one-handed goal for a highlight tally to make the Bulls lead 3-0 heading into the second intermission.
Suzuki & Korolyuk’s goals were assisted by Brody Dietz, whose pair of assists set the North Iowa Bulls single season NAHL record for assists with 34. The prior record was set in the 2021-22 season by current Army Black Knight defenseman and Assistant Captain Sean Vlasich.
Austin cut down on the Bulls’ advantage with a Kyle Sorensen strike to instill a moment of fear in the Bulls. However, North Iowa held their ground and ended the night with Fuji Suzuki ending the night on an empty net strike for his second of the night, his 8th multi-goal game of the season, and a Bulls victory.
Charlie Durkin stopped 28 of 29 shots in the Bulls net.
Jack Solomon stopped 20 of 23 shots in the Bruins net.
The Bulls & Bruins will conclude their weekend series at Riverside Arena on Saturday for a Valentine’s Day tilt. Puck Drop is at 7:05 PM.