NEW ULM, Minn. – North Iowa Bulls defenseman Callahan Nauss (Wayzata, Minn./Phoenix Jr. Coyotes) has been working toward his first goal for quite a while. Going into Saturday’s road trip to New Ulm, Nauss was one of only two skaters on the North Iowa roster without a goal this season.
Now, only Justin Callahan (Algonquin, Ill./North Iowa Bulls) remains in the hunt for his first goal of the year after Nauss’s go-ahead marker on the power play early in the second period on Saturday. However, his long toss to the net was the only North Iowa goal of the evening in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Steel at the New Ulm Civic Center.
The loss was the Bulls’ second overtime defeat in as many games at New Ulm this season, dropping the West Division leaders back to 18-3-2-0 on the season. The Steel ran their record to 9-6-2-1, picking up the win in their league-leading sixth overtime game this season.
Nauss’s chance came with just 13 seconds remaining in the Bulls’ first power play of the night, at the 3:25 mark of the second period. A tripping call on Jacob Zowin put the Bulls up a man, and the Wayzata, Minnesota native’s toss from just inside the blue line found its way untouched through the slot to put North Iowa up a goal.
“It feels good,” said Nauss. “I’m looking forward to a few more now. Now that I got the first one in, it should be a little bit easier.”
The teams scrapped for the next goal for more than 31 minutes after that, with North Iowa looking to double the lead and New Ulm trying to eliminate it. The Steel reached their goal with just 5:04 to go, with Jack Parks popping in a rebound after a pass across the front of the net from Jacob Berkowitz.
A holding penalty against Jordan Roo (Champlin, Minn./North Iowa Bulls) at 2:52 of the overtime session opened the door for the Steel, and the hosts struck just 40 seconds later. With the Bulls clamoring for a penalty after Cam Fagerlee (St. Anthony, Minn./North Iowa Bulls) was tripped up in the neutral zone, former Bull Mason Enright led the odd-man rush up the left wing and found Keegan Bauman in front of the net for the one-timer and the game-winner.
Bauman’s goal was his sixth of the season against the Bulls, scoring in every one of New Ulm’s four meetings with North Iowa thus far. Each team went 1-for-2 on the power play, marking the sixth straight game that North Iowa has picked up a goal on the man-advantage.
One night after stepping in for A.J. Cohen in relief, Zac Hattan went the distance with 37 saves, earning his first win since his Steel debut on September 20. Dysen Skinner (Billings, Mont./North Iowa Bulls) took the loss with 29 saves, falling to 7-1-2-0 on the year.
North Iowa enters the month of December ahead of a home-and-home weekend with the Alexandria Blizzard. Alexandria will host next Friday night’s game, while the Bulls’ home contest on Saturday will be the final junior contest ever played at the North Iowa Ice Arena. The opening puck drop for Friday’s game at the Runestone Community Center is scheduled for 7:10 p.m., followed by a 7:30 p.m. puck drop in Mason City on Saturday. Live streaming coverage of both games is available on HockeyTV, while the Saturday game will also be audio-streamed live on Mixlr.
Updated news and information on North Iowa Bulls hockey are always available at www.northiowabulls.com, and by following the team on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. To purchase advance tickets to Bulls home games, call 641-423-4625 or click here.
North Iowa 0 1 0 0 – 1
New Ulm 0 0 1 1 – 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Nauss Nio (boarding-minor), 17:47.
2nd Period-1, North Iowa, Nauss 1 (Dahlseide, Roo), 3:25 (PP). Penalties-Zowin Num (tripping-minor), 1:38; Zowin Num (holding-minor), 14:06.
3rd Period-2, New Ulm, Parks 7 (Berkowitz), 14:56. Penalties-No Penalties
OT Period-3, New Ulm, Bauman 11 (Enright), 3:32 (PP). Penalties-Roo Nio (holding-minor), 2:52.
Shots on Goal-North Iowa 8-17-11-2-38. New Ulm 12-7-10-2-31.
Power Play Opportunities-North Iowa 1 / 2; New Ulm 1 / 2.
Goalies-North Iowa, Skinner 8-1-2-0 (31 shots-29 saves). New Ulm, Hattan 2-1-0-0 (38 shots-37 saves).
A-729
Referees-Hunter Mottinger.
Linesmen-James McQuesten, Tyler Willie.