OMAHA, NE. - The Lancers resumed the rivalry with the Lincoln Stars Friday night. The Lancers had come into this game against the Stars holding a 97-55-9-3 regular season record dating back to October of '02. During that same 20 year stretch, the Lancers had amassed 3,839 penalty minutes head-to-head with Lincoln, while the Stars have piled up an astonishing 4,248 penalty minutes head-to-head with Omaha.
The first period would begin, and the Lancers would sleep walk through the opening frame. Lincoln would not give Omaha's puck carriers an inch in the offensive zone, as Lincoln would win all puck battles to go along with it creating numerous scoring opportunities for the Stars.
Lincoln would start with a goal coming from forward Jared Mangan who would collect a bouncing puck, and would slip it by a reeling Michael Hrabal.
The Stars were not done, as University of Nebraska Omaha commit Tanner Ludtke would cash in on a one-time pass from forward Mason Marcellus on the power play to make it 2-0 Lincoln.
The Stars were still not done, as shortly thereafter it was forward Keaton Peters who would deflect a puck out in front to stretch the Stars' lead going into the second at 3-0.
The second period would have a better Lancers performance, but still the scoreboard would show otherwise.
The scoring opened with forward Justin Stupka who would receive a pass out in front from Will Diamond to cut the deficit at 3-1.
That two-goal lead would be short lived however, as forward Tanner Ludtke would get his second of the night to make it 4-1 Lincoln.
Lincoln would extend that lead on a 4-on-3 powerplay with forward Michael Mesic ripping one from the faceoff dot to make it 5-1 Stars.
Through the rest of the second, Lincoln and Omaha would start to exhibit their hatred towards one another, as Will Diamond would get mixed up with numerous Stars players throughout the period. Referee Chazz Knoche seemed to have had no patience for Diamond, giving Omaha the short end of the stick throughout the night.
The third period resulted in 0 goals aside. As both Omaha and Lincoln continued to play a solid 200 ft. game in spite of the chippy play throughout.
The Lancers would fall to the Stars by the final score of 5-1. The Lancers go to 9-13-3-2, while the Lincoln Stars improve to 16-8-1-0.
The Lancers are back in action tomorrow night at Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa to round out 2022 against the Sioux City Musketeers. Puck drop is at 6:05 CST. You can catch the game on Mixlr or FloSports.
