By Tessa Deemer
WATERTOWN, SD. (November 1-2nd, 2024) — The Watertown Shamrocks move to 2-11-1-1 as they continue to push through the beginning of the season after taking on the North Iowa Bulls in a Central Division matchup. The Bulls record now stands at 7-7-0-0 as they surpass the Minnesota Mallards in the central division standings standings.
Game 1 – November 1st, 2024
At the start of game one, the Bulls outshot the Shamrocks by a mere two shots, 11-9. The Bulls got off to a quick start as forward Davis Higly found the back of the Shamrocks’ net just 3:41 into the first period. Minutes later, after assists from Jack Seaverson and Cole Wirun the Bulls struck again with a goal from Sangyeob Kim at 9:44. The Shamrocks continued to keep up with their defensive efforts but the Bulls put up a third goal from Michael Malatino at 11:57. River Leslie-Toogood was pulled from the net shortly after, giving Alexander Sabev his turn to protect the net.
Going into the last ten minutes of the first period, both teams tallied penalties within two minutes of another. At 13:30, Ryan Gingher served a two-minute minor for crosschecking, and at 15:49 Vince Kalscheur received a two-minute minor for tripping.
Things turned up in the second period as the Shamrocks hit the jets out shooting the Bulls 14-6. After two early penalties from the Bulls’ Kash Crawford for and Jack Seaverson, the Shamrocks took every opportunity to keep things moving. Just 6 minutes later, Ryan Whiterabbit was first to strike back for the Shamrocks scoring at the 15:16 mark. Heading back to the box, the Bulls received their third penalty of the period with a high-sticking call from Kash Crawford with seven seconds remaining in the period. The score was 3-1 going into the third.
The third period was off to a physical start with an opening penalty coming from Bryce Mattern for charging just over a minute in. The Bulls were quick to respond with a goal from Luke Gustafson at the 5:55 mark of the period. The Shamrocks immediately fought back with a goal from Ryan Murphy making the score 4-2 at 6:13.
Things got shaky on the ice as Kash Crawford and Ryan Gingher were sent to the penalty box on calls for unsportsmanlike conduct just over halfway through the period. The physicality from the Bulls continued with a roughing call from Billy Moloney just moments later. Neither team managed to score for the remainder of the game. And, after 60 minutes of play, the Shamrocks had 57% of the total combined scoring chances. But, the Bulls ultimately came out on top with a final score of 4-2. Shamrock forward, Travis Lefere played a season high of 24:08 of ice time in the loss.
Game 2 – November 2nd, 2024:
As things got off to an uneasy start, the Bulls opened game two with an unsportsmanlike call assessed Jackson Shouten for an incident during starting line-ups. The Shamrocks tallied 8 shots in the first period, while the Bulls had 14 shots. The teams battled hard through the first half of the period, when the Bulls were first to put a point on the board with a goal from Max Ferkodic at 7:49. The Shamrocks struggled to find offense and ultimately the Bulls found the back of the net again at the 8:35 mark on a goal by Evan Johnson to make it 2-0 after the first period.
Going into the second period, the Bulls were quick to score with a wonky goal from Denis Hodas just three and a half minutes into the period. Hodas took a shot from the high slot that missed the net high and then bounced off the back of Watertown goalie Alex Sabev and into the net. Following a slashing penalty from Michael Malatino, the Bulls reached a lead of 4-0 with a goal from Max Ferkodic at 12:43, his second of the night.
After five more minutes of play, Watertowns’ Will Shepherd received a game misconduct, followed by an unsportsmanlike call from Tommy Manzella giving the Bulls a powerplay opportunity. The Bulls were unable to take advantage with their special teams units. The action continued as Liam Bard and Holden Carter received two minutes for roughing at 19:53.
The third and final period of the weekend left the crowd on the edge of their seats. At the start of the third, both teams received three unsportsmanlike calls less than a minute into play at 0:39. Ryan Gingher was charged with slashing in addition to the other calls. Just three minutes later, the Bulls showed their horns as Billy Moloney was called on a game misconduct for leaving the bench in an altercation at 3:59. The shots and the third period were neck-and-neck but the Shamrocks outshot the bulls 12-10. Two more penalties were added to the score sheet with a roughing call from Noah Diemer and a slashing call from Owen Chartier at 6:43. The Shamrocks continued to combat against the Bulls eliminate a shutout chance. After a bench penalty from the Bulls at 11:39, both teams were charged with two-and-ten roughing calls at 14:46 on Davis Higly and Ryan Whiterabbit. Even with their best efforts to protect Sabev in net, the Bulls snuck one more goal in the final minutes to make it 5-0.
Making his NAHL debut, affiliate player Bryce Mattern played 35 minutes throughout the weekend, which was the third most of any Shamrock forward. Goaltender Alex Sabev finished the night with 25 saves while North Iowa’s Jack Hirshorn picked up a 27 save shutout.
The Shamrocks will be back in action the weekend as they head to Mason City, IA to avenge the North Iowa Bulls in a two-game series at 7:10pm CST on Friday, November 8th, and at 6:30pm CST on Saturday, November 9th. Both games can be found on NAHL.tv or listened to live on Star 98.1 with Jeff Anderson on the call.