The Basingstoke Bison rounded off their pre-season campaign in style on friday night, producing a superb comeback to defeat the Swindon Wildcats 7-5 at Planet Ice Basingstoke.


After winning three of their four pre-season fixtures, the Herd head into the start of the 2026/27 NIHL season with plenty of positives as preparations continue to come together.


Bison 7-5 Wildcats Game Report:


It looked like a difficult night for the Herd early on as Swindon raced into a four-goal advantage. Matt Vermaeten opened the scoring after 6:30, before Chris Jones doubled the lead just 17 seconds later. Vermaeten then struck again on the powerplay at 19:08, with Mason Lipsey making it 4-0 just over four minutes into the second period.


The Bison responded through Kyle Carruth at 27:36 and with the Herd facing a three-goal deficit with over 30 minutes left, the comeback was on.


Captain George Norcliffe pulled another one back at 31:13, before Sellan scored a snipe at 33:13 to bring the Bison within one. Adam Harding then raced away one-on-one and tied it all up at 4-4.


In the third period new Canadian, AJ Macaulay gave the Bison their first lead of the night as he banged home a rebound. But Swindon didn't give up as they then tied it up at five a piece through Reed Sayers. But it was the new Japanese star, Sota Isogai who tipped in the game-winning goal to secure a dramatic comeback victory for the Bison.


Charles Farmer found the empty net at 59:00, sealing a thrilling 7-5 victory.


The victory means the Herd complete pre-season with three wins from four, following their earlier back-to-back victories over Bristol, and head into the new campaign with momentum behind them. 


Attention now turns to the start of the 2026/27 NIHL season, with the Bison back on home ice next Saturday night to take on the Telford Tigers.