Xtream Arena was full of anticipation as fans welcomed their Iowa Heartlanders back for another season after they made their first playoff appearance in franchise history a season ago.
But just 1:20 into the first period, disaster struck. Josh Nelson of the Tulsa Oilers put one in the back of the net and gave his team an early 1-0 lead.
“Those things happen, and the important thing is that we have to be ready for those situations and just focus on the next shift,” Yiuki Miura said, one of two captains of the Iowa Heartlanders.
“Nobody got down, if anything everybody was like ‘Alright, here we go let’s take our game to another level,” Keltie Jeri-Leon said.
After that early blow, the Heartlanders and starting goalie William Rousseau hunkered down and did not allow another goal for the rest of the period.
“I didn’t love our start, I think we had a little bit of first game jitters,” head coach Chuck Weber said. “Rousseau was steady back there and the guys have a lot of confidence in our goaltender because of that.”
The Heartlanders came out in the second period with a higher level of intensity, which showed as they outshot the Oilers, 12-1.
Although the volume of shots on goal were there for the Heartlanders, they were unable to cash in on those opportunities. Iowa entered the third and final period trailing 1-0.
The moment all home fans were waiting for finally came for the Heartlanders with 15:22 left in the third period. Nolan Orzeck scored the game tying goal and was assisted by Jaxon Nelson and Jack O’Brien.
Two minutes after the goal from Orzeck, the Heartlanders were awarded their third power play of the night from an interference call on the Oilers. Keltie Jeri-Leon couldn’t let this opportunity go by and scored the go-ahead goal just 30 seconds into the power play, assisted by Jaxon Nelson and Isaac Johnson.
“It’s pretty indescribable, the game winner at home on opening night felt really good but I’m just proud of the whole team tonight,” Jeri-Leon said.
After a few more clutch saves from William Rousseau, Iowa was able to hang on and defeat the Oilers 2-1. Not only was it the first win for the Landers, but it was the first win for new head coach Chuck Weber as well.
“It feels fantastic! Our boys played their hearts out, stuck to the plan, and their compete was second to none,” Weber said. “All the hard work they put in the last two weeks paid off and we were able to outskate Tulsa, which is a credit to our guys’ effort.”
Though Iowa squandered many of its goal chances until the third period, coach Weber credits the resilience of his squad for responding in the clutch.
“The boys never got frustrated and that’s how we have to play,” Weber said. “We had some huge blocked shots and we’re going to need some ice packs tonight but they always feel better after a win.”
After a hard fought win on opening night, coach Weber and company look to take this momentum to propel them for the long season ahead.
“The bar is set and we’re going to hold the boys to this standard going forward,” Weber said. “There’s going to be nights that we’re not at our best but that doesn’t mean we can’t control our controllables and do the little things well throughout the season.”
“We got 71 games left so can’t be too excited but definitely have fun tonight and then focus on Bloomington,” Miura said.
“We have an unbelievable group, it’s game one and we’re brothers already,” Jeri-Leon said. “When you’re going to battle for your brother every guy is doing his job for the next guy out there. We stuck with it all night and got it done.”
Up Next
The Heartlanders travel to Bloomington, Illinois, to face the Bison on Oct. 18, before returning to Coralville for a rematch against the Oilers on Oct. 19.