Cincinnati, OH — Matt Sop and Jaxon Nelson scored, but the Iowa Heartlanders dropped to the Cincinnati Cyclones, 9-2, Friday at Heritage Bank Center.
Cincinnati scored the opening two goals in a five-minute span in the first. Nick Rheaume scored at 9:01 on a turn-around shot from the blue line and Ryan Kirwan followed up with a knuckleball from the right circle through traffic.
Iowa scored twice in the second period, but allowed three and trailed 5-2 after 40 minutes. Sop tallied Iowa’s first to make it 3-1 Cincinnati at 6:59 of the second. Sop wormed his way to the left slot and unleashed a top-shelf wrister for his second of the season. Next, on the man up, Isaac Johnson fed Nelson for a shot in front that struck the goaltender and squirmed in. Cincinnati scored twice after to re-establish a three-goal edge.
Cincinnati scored four more in the third and Ken Appleby won with 22 saves.
Iowa is on the road for two more games this week at Cincinnati Saturday at 3:05 p.m. and at Toledo Sunday at 4:15 p.m. The Heartlanders’ next home game is Nov. 15 at 6:00 p.m., as the Bloomington Bison are in town for Stick it to Cancer Night, presented by Dupaco Community Credit Union.