OMAHA, NE - The Lancers completed their three-game weekend against the Fargo Force at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in what would be their 6th of 8 regular season meetings with one another. The Lancers came into tonight 1-4-0-0 against the Force. Coach David Wilkie however, holds an all-time record against the Force of 15-14-0-0 coming into tonight's contest.
The first period opened with Omaha trying to jump out on Fargo early, outshooting the Force 4-2 early on in the frame.
However, Fargo would strike first with forward Bret Link, who took a drop pass from Fargo captain Kyle Smolen, as Link would rip it over the shoulder of Lancer netminder Kevin Pasche to make it 1-0 Fargo.
Each team would continue to get scoring opportunities, but to no avail, with the Lancers heading into the locker room down one.
The second period was controlled by Fargo, with the ice being tilted in their favor, the Force were able to cash in on multiple occasions.
The scoring started however, with just 33 seconds into the second, Lancer forward Reese Laubach who is committed to play for Mike Hastings at Minnesota State would deflect a Chris Romaine shot from the point to tie it 1-1.
That score would not last long, as once again Fargo forward Bret Link puts home his second of the night to make it 2-1.
Fargo would not be done, as defenseman Leo Gruba found himself wide open in the slot, as Gruba would walk in and deke out Pasche to extend Fargo's lead at 3-1 heading into the third period.
The third period was a much better outing for Omaha, but unfortunately, it'd be too little too late.
The Lancers would eventually get a powerplay opportunity later on in the third. Coach Wilkie would elect to pull Kevin Pasche for the extra attacker to give Omaha an essential two-man advantage, but the Lancers were unable to sustain offensive zone pressure, as Fargo's Verner Miettinen would put away the empty netter while being down a man in the process capping off a 4-1 Fargo victory.
The Lancers fall to 8-12-3-1, while the Fargo Force improve to 15-5-0-3. The Lancers goaltending over the three game weekend however, consisting of the two headed monster of Kevin Pasche and Michael Hrabal ended up finishing with a .933 save percentage, and yet the Lancers could only muster up one win out of three on the weekend.
The Lancers are back in action Friday night at Liberty First Credit Union Arena against the red-hot Sioux City Musketeers. Puck drop is at 7:05 CST. You can catch the game on FloSports or on Mixlr.
