Austin Bruins down North Iowa Bulls 4-1 Saturday evening
In a game you heard on AM 1480 KAUS Saturday evening, the Austin Bruins were looking to bounce back from a 2-1 loss at the hands of the North Iowa Bulls in an NAHL Central Division matchup in Mason City Friday night, and it was the Bruins picking up a badly-needed two points as they were able to pull away for a 4-1 win.
After a scoreless first period, the Bruins got on the scoreboard first at 5:05 of the second period when Austin Salani tallied his 26th goal of the season, with assists to Alex Laurenza, his 24th, and to Elijah Brown, his second. The Bulls tied the game with a power play goal at 12:02 of the period, but it was then John Hirschfeld, the newest member of the Bruins fresh off a State Class A championship with the St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders scoring what would turn out to be the game-winning goal on the power play at 14:31 of the period to give Austin a 2-1 lead, with assists to Jackson Rilei, his fifth, and to Ryan Hintz, his third.
Giuseppe Fiorillo provided some insurance for the Bruins when he scored at 5:14 of the third period to make the score 3-1, with assists to Austin Salani, his 32nd, and to Dylan Cook, his 28th. Ocean Wallace then sent the puck 200 feet down the ice for an empty-net goal at 18:25 to make the final 4-1 Austin.
The Bruins outshot the Bulls by a wide margin 46-13, with Vilgot Holm turning away 12 of the 13 shots he faced to earn the win, while North Iowa netminder Santo Simmchen made 42 saves in facing 46 shots to take the loss between the pipes. The Bruins were called for six penalties for 12 minutes, while the Bulls were also whistled for six penalties, but for 41 minutes, including a two-minute checking-from-behind minor with a 10-minute misconduct, and a five-minute fighting major and a game misconduct. Austin was 1 for 3 on the power play, while North Iowa was 1 for 5.
With the badly-needed two points, the Bruins moved from fifth to a tie for third in the Central Division standings with a record of 27-22-2-1-1 for 57 points along with idle Aberdeen, and one point ahead of now fifth-place St. Cloud, who fell at home to the Bismark Bobcats 6-4 Saturday evening.
Austin returns to action this coming Friday and Saturday at Riverside Arena versus the first-place Minot Minotauros, with puck drop at 7:05 each evening.