Record Crowd Not Enough to Lift Bison Past Iowa Heartlanders in Overtime Loss at Home

IMAGE COURTESY OF BLOOMINGTON BISON MEDIA TEAM

NORMAL, Ill. — In front of a record crowd of over 4,700 fans at Grossinger Motors Arena, the Bison’s season opener ended in heartbreaking fashion after multiple comeback efforts throughout the night.

The visiting Iowa Heartlanders came out strong, striking early with a power-play goal to open the scoring in the first period.

But the Bison responded just 20 seconds later, as Kyle Jackson found the back of the net on assists from Eddie Matsushima and Chongmin Lee.

In what quickly became a back-and-forth affair, the Bison grabbed their first lead late in the period. After Iowa answered Jackson’s opening goal, he struck again on the power play with under five minutes to go, giving the Bison a 2–1 lead.

Just over a minute later, Riku Ishida extended the lead, hammering home a one-timer from Jackson and Matsushima on yet another power play, sending the Bison into the first intermission up 3–2.

The second period proved more chaotic for the Bison, starting with Shane Ott’s first professional goal being waved off due to a kicking motion. Iowa took advantage, tying the game on a power-play goal and later reclaiming the lead during 4-on-4 play to go up 4–3.

Following the fourth goal, Callum Tung replaced Hugo Ollas in net after Ollas allowed four goals on 23 shots.

The switch paid immediate dividends. Jackson notched his fourth point of the night with a slick assist to Brandon Yeamans, who tied it at 4–4 against his former club.

Still, the Heartlanders struck again before the end of the period, taking a 5–4 lead into the final frame.

Tung was electric in the third period, making several clutch saves to keep the Bison in striking distance. His efforts paid off when Zakary Karpa scored his first professional goal on a one-timer from Ott and Nikita Sedov to tie the game at 5–5.

Despite carrying momentum into the final minutes of regulation, the Bison couldn’t find the game-winner, sending it to overtime.

Both sides had chances in the extra frame but failed to convert, forcing a shootout.

Lee was the only Bison to score in the shootout, while the Heartlanders converted twice to seal the 6–5 road win.

The Bison will look to bounce back quickly as they host the Toledo Walleye this Friday, October 24th, at Grossinger Motors Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. as part of the Bison’s “309 Night” a Friday tradition.

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