OMAHA, NE. - The Omaha Lancers took on their Western Conference foe, the Des Moines Buccaneers. The Lancers are coming off a clean sweep of last week with a pair of wins over the Waterloo Blackhawks and the Sioux City Musketeers.
The first period had mixed signals coming from Omaha. With just 1:57 into the game, Omaha went on the powerplay. Omaha was stagnant however, as Des Moines managed to kill it off with ease.
Shortly after Des Moines killed off their penalty, it was Girts Silkalns who twirled around in the slot, and put it past a reeling Kevin Pasche, making it 1-0 Des Moines.
Omaha would respond with some offensive pressure of their own, but no high-quality chances coming from the mini offensive burst, and Des Moines kept them off the scoreboard during that sequence as a result.
The Buccaneers were not done putting the puck in the back of the net in the first period however, as it was Des Moines forward Connor Pelc who carried the puck up the wing and cut to the middle and snuck the rubber disk past Pasche to make it 2-0 to end the first period.
The second period opened with a flurry of Omaha scoring chances, but Buccaneer netminder, Jan Korec would continue to be up to the task, keeping the Lancers off the scoreboard.
The Lancers would continue to dominate the second period, but the scoreboard would continue to say otherwise. Des Moines forward Joey Muldowney would come in on a rush in what looked to be offsides originally, however Muldowney would do a fantastic job of keeping his left foot behind the blue line before the San Jose Sharks draft pick would carry the puck out on the wing and snapping it past Pasche's blocker side to extend the Bucs' lead at 3-0.
Later, the Lancers would continue to dominate, highlighted by a shot off the post by Lancer forward Alex Bump. The Lancers would go into the second intermission "snake bit" down 3-0.
The third period was back and forth in scoring chances. Des Moines controlled the first half of the third period, but Kevin Pasche stood tall, stopping every shot that came his way in the final frame.
With 6:57 to go in the third, Lancers bench boss
David Wilkie elected to put out an extra attacker while on the powerplay.
Chance after chance came from all over for Omaha, funneled predominantly from below the goal line, and finally the Lancers get a break, as it was Charlie Lurie who cashed in on his fourth goal of the season, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
Des Moines would shut the door of any hope of coming back however, as it was Christian Kocsis who buried the empty netter to help Des Moines topple Omaha 4-1.
The Lancers fall to 3-2-1-1. While the Des Moines Buccaneers improve to 3-2-1-0.
The Lancers take on the Waterloo Blackhawks tomorrow night back at the Liberty First Credit Union Arena. Puck drop is at 6:05 CST. You can catch the game on Mixlr or FloSports.
