Miura, Beraldo and Sokay net first pro goals
Fort Wayne, IN – Yuki Miura, Adrien Beraldo and Ben Sokay scored their first professional goals and the Iowa Heartlanders knocked off the Fort Wayne Komets, 5-1, Sunday at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Hunter Jones earned his second ECHL win with 31 denials.Miura was the first on the board for the Heartlanders, deflecting a shot from Fedor Gordeev at 6:42 to provide Iowa a lead in the first. Miura, a 25-year-old graduate of Lake Superior State University, has two points in his first three pro games.Bryce Misley edged the Heartlanders ahead to 2-0 on another redirected puck. Kris Bennett was given the primary assist and it tapped off Misley near net front on the power play at 12:06. Four minutes later, Bryce Gervais generated his first ECHL goal, whacking one along the left goal line that surprised Sean Bonar and went in through the short side. Iowa led, 3-1, through one.Beraldo’s first pro strike came on a more-organized break in. Ryan Kuffner stretched the Komets to the left door step, then creatively fed to the slot where it eventually came to Beraldo. The rookie slammed it in with Bonar guessing to provide Iowa a 4-1 advantage.Sokay tricked Bonar for his first pro goal at :43 of the third. Sokay drove up the left wing side and shot it to the far post, sneaking through to give the Landers a 5-1 edge.Box ScoreIowa is next at home for another Staybridge Suites home stand Nov. 24, Nov. 26 and Nov. 27. Iowa hosts Kansas City at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 24th, then faces Wheeling in back-to-back games on Black Friday and Saturday the 27th, with all puck drops at 7:00 p.m. Season ticket memberships, group tickets, mini-plans, flex vouchers and single-game tickets are available for the Heartlanders inaugural season by calling 319-569-GOAL and visiting iowaheartlanders.com/tickets