Rapid City, SD – Iowa Heartlanders defenseman Hunter Lellig scored his first professional goal in a 4-2 loss at the Rapid City Rush Friday at The Monument.
On the goal, Lellig shot it through a screen from the left point, assisted by Pavel Novak. Lellig is the first Iowa native to ever play for the Heartlanders and is a Cedar Falls native. His goal cut into to Rapid City’s lead with 6:37 left in the second, making it 3-1 Rush.
Novak also scored with Iowa trailing by three again in the final half of the third, cutting it to a 4-2 Rush advantage with 8:03 to go.
Peyton Jones made 25 saves in defeat. Matt Radomsky stopped 32 of 34 for his second straight win against the Heartlanders in the season series.
TJ Fergus and Keltie Jeri-Leon scored 1:47 apart in the first period to give the Rush a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Rapid City took a 3-0 advantage with seven minutes to go in the third on a strike from Mark Duarte. Jeri-Leon scored his second goal of the game, a short-handed tally, at 5:41 of the third.
The Heartlanders are at Rapid City on Sat., Dec. 30 at 8:05 p.m. and Sun., Dec. 31 at 8:05 p.m. Iowa continues a seven-game road trip with back-to-back games at Fort Wayne Sat., Jan. 6 at 6:30 p.m. and Sun., Jan. 7 at 4:00 p.m.
The Heartlanders are next at home Mon., Jan. 15 at 2:05 p.m. vs. Cincinnati – schools are off for the day and bring your kids out for a great day at Xtream Arena.
Iowa continues a three-game homestand vs. Wheeling on Fri., Jan. 19 at 6:35 p.m. on Affiliation Night presented by DASH Auctions, celebrating Iowa’s proud affiliation with the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild. On Sat., Jan. 20 at 6:05 p.m. against Wheeling, the Heartlanders are back at Xtream Arena for Dash’s Birthday Party, presented by Paul Park Real Estate. Join the Heartlanders mascot Dash and dozens of his mascot friends for a family-friendly Saturday night at Xtream Arena.
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.