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By MACKENZEE SIMMS | Special to the Reporter

To start the new year, the Birmingham Bulls finished out a 1-1 weekend against the Pensacola Ice Flyers with a 4-3 away victory on Friday, Jan. 3 before falling on home ice with a 4-3 loss on Saturday, Jan. 4.

For the first game of the new year, the Bulls traveled to Pensacola Bay Center to face off against the Ice Flyers on Friday, Jan 3.

The action started early with a holding penalty from Pensacola’s Jonathan Bartuccio-Pereira just 2:24 into the first period. Electrified by the early power play, the Birmingham offense quickly responded with Kolten Olynek scoring a power play goal at the 3:17 mark.

Less than a minute after this early goal, the Ice Flyers responded with a goal of their own courtesy of Cayden Cahill at the 3:59 mark, tying the game 1-1. But Pensacola’s victory was short lived as the Bulls took possession and began to dominate the scoreboard halfway through the first period.

Birmingham’s Troy MacTavish broke the tie with 11:35 remaining in the period, quickly followed by another goal from Filimon Ledziankou with 10:14 left. Nikita Kozyrev then scored another point with 8:58 remaining in the first for the Bulls’ third goal in less than two minutes, making the score 4-1.

For the remainder of the first period, the Ice Flyers fought to regain traction after the Bulls’ flurry of goals, and Pensacola’s Sam Dabrowski managed to get another on the board two minutes before the end of the period to make the score 4-2 going into the second period.

Early in the second period, Birmingham’s Elijah Wilson committed a hooking penalty at the 4:01 mark, but the Bulls successfully killed the penalty. Birmingham tried to pull off another penalty kill later in the second period after a hooking penalty from Drake Glover, but Pensacola’s Bartuccio-Pereira capitalized on the advantage with a goal with 9:42 remaining in the period.

Neither team managed to score again during the remainder of the second period or the third period, making the final score of the game 4-3 in favor of the Birmingham Bulls.

The Bulls aimed to repeat this victory the following day as both teams traveled to the Pelham Civic Center and Ice Arena for a rematch on Saturday, Jan 4.

Similar to the first game, Birmingham scored an earlier power play goal with Pensacola’s Troy Button committing a high sticking infraction and Ledziankou landing the puck in the net with 12:15 remaining in the first period. Then, the Ice Flyers tied the game up quickly with a goal from Cahill just like in the first game.

But unlike the first game, neither team scored for the remainder of the first period but rather exchanged a few penalties before walking through the tunnel at the end of the first period, tied 1-1.

Determined to not repeat their prior defeat, the Ice Flyers entered the second period with a vengeance. Pensacola’s Jake Hamilton scored just over a minute into the period, before scoring again with 12:14 remaining in the second.

With seven minutes left in the period, Pensacola’s Tyler Ho earned a penalty for interference, sending the Bulls on a power play. Glover capitalized on this advantage making the score 3-2 at the end of the second period.

In the final period of the game, the two teams battled it out with the Ice Flyers emerging victorious after another goal from Bartuccio-Pereira at the 13:00 mark. As the clock wound down, Birmingham pulled their goaltender, allowing Pensacola’s Houston Wilson to score on an empty net, making the final score 5-2.

The Bulls are currently set to host the Evansville Thunderbolts for back-to-back home games on Friday, Jan. 10 and Saturday, Jan. 11. Both games will start at 7 p.m. at the Pelham Civic Complex and Ice Arena. The league has yet to announce if there will be changes due to the forecasted winter weather on Friday.

Birmingham will then wrap up the weekend with a trip to the Knoxville Ice Bears on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 5 p.m. at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.