Coralville, Iowa – The Iowa Heartlanders, proud ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild, opened up their season with a 4-2 loss to the Rapid City Rush Thursday at Xtream Arena. Jesse Jacques scored both goals for Iowa. Iowa and Rapid City rematch Friday at 6:35 p.m., featuring a Magnet Schedule Giveaway thanks to Paul Park Real Estate.
Rapid City opened the scoring 3:24 into the first period when Jimmy Soper redirected a shot from Zack Hoffman at the blue line to take a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later, Alex Aleardi fired from the right circle after a pass from Maurizio Colella to put the Rush up, 2-0.
Jacques scored the first goal of the season for the Heartlanders 8:48 into the season on a pass from Nick Campoli to the net front that Jacques slapped home to make the score 2-1.
In the second period, Jacques brought the game within one again after his second goal with assists from Liam Coughlin and Pavel Novak.
Rapid City shut the door in the final period after 89 42 Alex Aleardi found Mark Duarte, who fired it past goalie Hunter Jones for the score and the 4-2 victory.
Jones finished the night between the pipes 22 for 26.
Matt Radomsky notched 34 saves on 36 attempts.
Rose Club Memberships & Tickets Now Available For 2023-24 Season
Rose Club Season Ticket Memberships, Partial Plans, Mini-Plans, Flex Tickets and Single-Game Tickets are now available for the 2023-24 season, the Heartlanders’ third in the ECHL. Call 319-569-GOAL or visit iowaheartlanders.com/tickets for more information.