MASON CITY, IA – In a game that once saw the Bruins trailing 4-0, Austin would battle back to steal a 6-5 shootout win against the North Iowa Bulls.
In the first of four straight meetings against the North Iowa Bulls, the Bruins would travel down I-35 Friday Night to Mason City. North Iowa was looking to get the rust off after being swept last weekend by the St. Cloud Norsemen and came out strong ultimately resulting in four straight goals to start the night. The first one would come off the stick of Nolan Abraham at the 8:49 mark of the period. Seventeen seconds later, Byron Hartley would make it a 2-0 lead for the Bulls with Eli Miller picking up the third of the period a few minutes later. This would result in a change in net for the Bruins as Ethan Robertson would come in for relief for Trent Wiemken who would stop 6 of the 9 shots he would face. Max Scott would make it a 4-0 lead at 15:24 of the period and from there the Bruins would get to work. Ocean Wallace would get his first power-play goal of the night with just under three minutes remaining in the period to get the Bruins on the board going into the intermission.
The second period would belong to the Bruins as they would put pressure on North Iowa. Damon Furuseth would pick up his 5th goal of the season with Isaak Brassard picking up the lone assist 5:51 into the period. Moments later, Walter Zacher would add to his team-leading goal total with his 21st of the season to pull the Bruins back within a goal. At 14:37 of the second, Wallace would pick up his 2nd Power Play goal of the night to tie the game up at 4-4. Ethan Robertson would pick up the assist on the goal. The Bruins’ defense would hold the Bull to a single shot during the middle frame.
Logan Dombrowsky would give the Bulls back the lead at 4:08 into the third period with his 8th goal of the season, but that lead wouldn’t hold much longer. Wallace would complete the hat-trick with his 12th of the season, while on the Power Play, to tie the game up at 5-5 to force overtime in Mason City.
Five Minutes of Overtime would not be enough as the game would make its way into a shootout. In the second frame of the shootout, both Gavin Morrissey and Max Scott would exchange a goal to keep tied 1-1. Damon Furuseth and Landon MacDonald would do the same until the 4th round when Walter Zacher’s slick move beat Mitch Day to set the Bruins up for the win. Robertson would see a shot from Justin Mexico ring of the post as the Bruins would come away with a huge win in the River City.
Up next the Bruins return to Riverside looking for the weekend sweep of the North Iowa Bulls on Paint the Rink Pink Night. Limited tickets remain and are available by clicking the link here. Doors open at 6 PM with puck drop at 7:05 PM CST
