Sports stats



NAHL North Iowa Bulls

Bulls Charge to 6-3 Win over Bismarck, Weekend Sweep

November 7, 2021 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
North Iowa Bulls News Release


Michael Mesic of the North Iowa Bulls
Michael Mesic of the North Iowa Bulls
(North Iowa Bulls)

MASON CITY, Iowa - The North Iowa Bulls may not yet have the dominant 60-minute showing they've attempted to put together this season, but their two games against the Bismarck Bobcats this weekend may be the closest they've come to the perfect effort they've sought.

One might say they came up only a few minutes short of it on Saturday night, allowing two goals in the second period and a brief lead before storming back for four unanswered goals to beat the Bobcats by a 6-3 count and earn the sweep for the weekend.

Less than 24 hours after finishing a four-goal performance for the ages, Carter Rapalje added to it with a snipe from the left-wing faceoff circle, beating Aksel Reid on the back post to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead just 3:50 into the game. The lead jumped to two goals just 49 seconds later, when Ryan Coughlin's pass across the top of the slot caught Greg Japchen at the top of the right-wing circle, and his snap beat Reid for a 2-0 advantage.

By the 6:06 mark, though, the Bobcats had answered, with Jon Ziskie's shot from the left half-wall tipping off of Adam Pietila and into the North Iowa net, pushing the lead back to 2-1.

Bismarck would grab the lead in a three-and-a-half minute span of the second period, starting with a give-and-go between Isaac Novak and Drew Holt - Novak's return pass bounced off of Holt's stick on his way to the net, but he played the bounce perfectly to beat Hunter Garvey at 4:51 of the period and tie the game at 2-2.

At 8:25, the Bobcats snagged their only lead of the game, when Jake McLean flipped a 2-on-2 into a 3-on-2 chance in the North Iowa zone, and his backdoor feed to Quinn Rudrud on the back post gave Bismarck a 3-2 advantage.

It lasted less than three minutes - Joey Potter's pass from the slot found Anthony Domina low in the left-wing circle, and his one-timer with 8:48 left in the period hit the reset button on the game at 3-3. Michael Mesic gave North Iowa the lead for good just 74 seconds later, banging home a long-distance rebound off of a right-wing shot from Rapalje.

With 4:20 left in the period, the Bulls added some insurance, with Max Scott popping in a second-chance goal off of Coughlin's initial shot. With the teams playing 4-on-4, Hunter Bulger finished the scoring at 5:32 of the third, sneaking in a backhand chance along the goal line that found a path past backup goaltender Erik Forss.

After a night where the teams combined for 75 shots on goal, the numbers were far more ordinary on Saturday, with the Bulls out-shooting their visitors by a 26-23 margin. Reid took the loss with 10 saves on 14 North Iowa chances, falling to 0-3 for the year, while Forss made 10 saves on 12 shots in relief on the way to a no-decision. Garvey's 20 saves were plenty to earn his sixth win of the season.

Sitting just two points back of the Austin Bruins with a game in hand, North Iowa and Austin square off next weekend in one of the teams' six home-and-home weekends this season. The Bulls travel to Minnesota for Friday's game, while the Saturday contest is set for the Mason City Arena. Friday's game gets underway at 7:05 p.m., while Saturday's contest is set for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.

PHOTO CAPTION: Michael Mesic turns to follow the play during Friday's North Iowa Bulls home game against the Bismarck Bobcats. Mesic scored the eventual game-winner Saturday in a 6-3 Bulls win. (Photo credit: North Iowa Bulls/Alissha Ames)

Bismarck 1 2 0 - 3

North Iowa 2 3 1 - 6

1st Period-1, North Iowa, Rapalje 11 (Mesic), 3:50. 2, North Iowa, Japchen 5 (Coughlin, Carroll), 4:39. 3, Bismarck, Pietila 5 (Ziskie, Gangl), 6:06. Penalties-Miller Bis (tripping-minor), 18:41.

2nd Period-4, Bismarck, Holt 4 (Novak, Beacom), 4:51. 5, Bismarck, Rudrud 4 (Mclean, Hanson), 8:25. 6, North Iowa, Domina 2 (Potter, Hartley), 11:12. 7, North Iowa, Mesic 5 (Rapalje, Mesic), 12:26. 8, North Iowa, Scott 6 (Coughlin, Carroll), 15:40. Penalties-Johnson Bis (tripping-minor), 2:51; Mesic Nio (boarding-minor), 12:57.

3rd Period-9, North Iowa, Bulger 6 (Domina), 5:32. Penalties-Gangl Bis (slashing-minor), 4:03; Carroll Nio (tripping-minor), 5:09.

Shots on Goal-Bismarck 8-6-9-23. North Iowa 10-6-10-26.

Power Play Opportunities-Bismarck 0 / 2; North Iowa 0 / 3.

Goalies-Bismarck, Reid 0-3-0-0 (14 shots-10 saves); Forss 3-6-1-0 (12 shots-10 saves). North Iowa, Garvey 6-2-0-2 (23 shots-20 saves).

A-1,007

Referees-Brian Fagan.

Linesmen-Reilly Hickey, Cameron Johnson.

Check out the North Iowa Bulls Statistics




Images from this story

Michael Mesic of the North Iowa Bulls
Michael Mesic of the North Iowa Bulls
   



North American Hockey League Stories from November 7, 2021


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent North Iowa Bulls Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central