Bison Sit Atop Division After Halloween Weekend

IMAGE COURTESY OF BLOOMINGTON BISON MEDIA TEAM 

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The Bloomington Bison played in back-to-back games over the Halloween weekend, earning points in both games to put them at the top of their division. Despite their success, the Bison only managed to win one game, after losing their second game in overtime. 

On Friday, the Bison returned home to play the Indy Fuel. The Bison came out aggressive on offense, recording ten shots on goal in the first period. At the halfway point of the period, Grant Porter scored the first goal of the game, putting the Bison up by one.  

While the Fuel were struggling to keep up with the Bison, they managed to get a strong response after Cole Lakosky tied the game up, with just over three minutes remaining. 

The second period was a more balanced attack from both teams, but the defenses held strong. That was until the 12:35 mark when Raivis Ansons scored his first goal as a Bison. 

In the third period, the Bison continued their strong performance, scoring yet again less than three minutes into the period, this goal coming from Michael Milne.  

Indy tried to make a comeback after scoring a goal just a few minutes later. The comeback quickly diminished when Vladislav Kamenev scored the game winning goal, elevating the Bison to the 4-2 win. 

The next day the team traveled to Kalamazoo, Michigan to face the Wings.  

At the start of the match, the Bisons momentum from last night carried over, scoring two goals in the first six minutes. The first goal came from the team’s previous point leader, Nikita Sedov. The second came from Greg Smith, his first goal with the team. 

Unfortunately for the Bison, the Wings flipped the momentum in the second period. At the 9:38 mark, the Wings scored their first goal of the night, and less than a minute later scored for a second time, tying the game 2-2.  

In the third period, the Bison’s offense greatly outplayed Kalamazoo’s, attempting 14 shots to their six. Despite their aggression neither team managed to score, and the game went into overtime. 

In overtime, the game once again flipped, and the Wings recorded eight shots while the Bison only recorded one. Still, the defenses held strong, and the game remained tied. 

In the shootout, both teams missed their first attempts, before both making the second. Each of the teams’ next two shots were successfully denied, before Andre Ghantous scored the winning goal for the Wings. 

Despite the loss, the Bison still earned a point in the standings. This continued their streak of earning a point in each of their five games to begin the season. The Bison currently sit first in the Central Division, and fourth in the Western Conference. 

The Bison will play two more games next weekend against the Fort Wayne Komets and Cincinnati Cyclones, both on the road. 

For all things Bloomington Bison, stay tuned to WZND.com.