Bison Snap Slump Behind Matsushima and McKay’s Strong Performance
Written by Noah Simon on November 18, 2025
IMAGE COURTESY OF BLOOMINGTON BISON MEDIA TEAM
NORMAL, Ill. – Eddie Matsushima’s 100th career ECHL goal, paired with a two-assist night from defenseman Chris Ortiz, pushed the Bison past the Iowa Heartlanders 3-1 at Grossinger Motors Arena on Friday.
Coming off a rough stretch over the past five games, the Bison looked determined from the opening puck drop, outshooting the Heartlanders 14-8 in the first period.
Goalie Dryden McKay shined early in his second start, turning away multiple Iowa chances, including a power play just two minutes into the game.
Not even halfway through the opening frame, Bloomington opened capitalized on a power play as Brett Budgell opened the scoring with his second goal of the season.
Ortiz recorded his first point with the primary assist, while Daniel Tedesco added the secondary helper.
The Bison offense wasn’t done yet. Ortiz notched his second assist of the period after juking out the Iowa defense and setting up Parker Gavlas for the finish.
Kyle Jackson extended his point total to twelve on the season with the secondary assist.
Despite several opportunities for Bloomington to extend the lead, the Heartlanders stayed within reach, cutting the deficit to 2-1 early in the second period off a broken play behind the Bison goal.
But Bloomington responded quickly, continuing to control the pace and outshooting Iowa 13-4 in the middle frame.
A late power play for the Bison gave them a chance to widen the gap, but four-on-four play shortened the opportunity.
Bloomington then opened the final period on the penalty kill and successfully shut down the Heartlanders’ top-ranked power play unit.
The third period opened much like the second ended. The Bison generated early pressure, and a power play nearly resulted in a goal when Nikita Sedov rang the post.
Still, the Bison remained firm, finishing the night perfect on the penalty kill against a strong Iowa special-teams squad.
The Heartlanders pulled their goalie late for an extra skater and nearly tied the contest, but a turnover the other way allowed Sedov to find Captain Matsushima, who buried the empty-net goal with under 10 seconds remaining to secure the 3-1 victory.
In his second start since joining the team, McKay delivered an impressive performance, stopping 19 of 20 shots and anchoring the win.
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