Cincinnati, Ohio – Callum Tung made 29 saves and Eddie Matsushima scored his 17^th goal of the season but the Bloomington Bison fell 2-1 to the Cincinnati Cyclones at the Heritage Bank Center on Wednesday evening.

Momentum teetered early and Brad Morrison outskated Cincinnati’s defense for a lane toward the net but was stopped less than three minutes into the game. On an ensuing shift, Tung was tasked with denying a point-blank blast and succeeded, aggressively coming to the top of his crease to erase the Cyclones hope. The home squad upped its intensity, and Bloomington went to the penalty box for a holding minor. With just over 30 seconds left in the penalty kill, the Bison fell behind 1-0 at 5:48 of the first frame. Pace slowed, with both teams tightening up neutral zone play, but the Cyclones broke through to double their score at 11:04 after racing down the ice for a breakaway tally. The Bison surged late, nearly evening up first-period shots by the intermission, but Sullivan Mack was turned aside on a breakaway with one minute remaining and Nikita Sedov was stymied from the slot on the same sequence.

Tung further-emerged as a difference-maker in the beginning stages of the middle stanza as he battled through extended Cincinnati pressure and five-straight shots on goal. Ayden MacDonald nearly brought his team to within one goal but found the same treatment at the other end of the ice. Alone in front of the Cyclones net, MacDonald pulled a pass to his forehand and was stopped point-blank. Bloomington gained momentum from the goaltending success in their own end, however, and moments after the attempt, drew a penalty for the first Bison powerplay. Before taking advantage of the full two minutes, a penalty to Matsushima cut it short. Bloomington’s captain lit the lamp soon after returning to the ice by tipping in a shot from Ivan Chukarov at 12:36. In addition to securing the goal, Bloomington flourished to a 12-7 shot advantage in the second but would still head into the final period trailing on the scoreboard.

The Bison surrendered 14 of the first 15 shots of the period through about 12 minutes, and Tung stopped them all to keep the score tight. Bloomington put an extra attacker on the ice with just under two minutes on the clock but would not scratch the back of the net.

Bloomington returns home for Pink in the Rink presented by Evenglow on Friday, March 20, when fans can receive a pink light-up wand, bid on specialty game-worn Pink in the Rink jerseys and enjoy $3 Busch Lights, sodas and waters, $0 popcorn and $9 pizza combos and $9 specialty T-shirts!

 Single-game tickets are available for ALL Bloomington Bison home games starting as low as $20! Visit ticketmaster.com or call 309-965-HERD to purchase tickets today.