CRANBERRY TWP, PA. – The Lancers participated in the final game of the 2023 Fall Classic against the U18 Team USA squad. Last night (9/23), the Lancers fell to the Muskegon Lumberjacks by a score of 6-2. However, the final score did not reflect the game. The Lancers were solid on getting pucks to the net and creating opportunities as they out shot the 'Jacks 35-27. But a few broken plays and nifty bounces made a major difference.
 
Team USA came into today (9/24) following a 6-5 overtime thriller of a victory over the Dubuque Fighting Saints. And having that momentum from a big win under their belts, on top of being now 8-0-1-0 at the Fall Classic, the odds were stacked against Omaha coming in.
 
The first period ended in a 1-0 lead for the U18s. A good move across the low slot by Teddy Stiga allowed him to net a backhand shot over the right leg pad of Omaha Goaltender, Croix Kochendorfer.
 
The shots on goal was 16-4 in favor of Team USA, but once again, that statistic did not tell the whole story.
 
The Lancers created some nice chances throughout the period and had solid possession time in their attacking end. But great shot-blocking and cutting down the angles made for a lot of missed net shots.
 
Both teams had the opportunity on the man-advantage, including a 58 second five-on-three for Team USA, but no power-play goals came as a result.
 
The second period brought a plethora of scoring, starting with a goal from Ethan Fredericks off a feed from Chase Cheslock to even things up at one goal apiece just 13 seconds into the period.
 
The goal from Fredericks was followed up by four unanswered Team USA goals. Three from Cole Eiserman and one from Christian Humphreys. EJ Emery notched two assists, along with Logan Hensler and Humphreys picking up assists as well.
 
Coming at the 17:36 mark of the second period, Will Diamond created an opportunity down below the Lancers' attacking goal line and sent a bouncing puck through the goal crease that was batted in by Gabe Kenne to pull the Lancers within three heading into the second intermission with a 5-2 score. That goal gave Kenne his first of his USHL career.
 
The final period of play led to another USA goal just 61 seconds in off the stick of Humphreys. Handing him his second goal of the day.
 
That was followed up by the last goal of the day, netted by Logan Hensler from the blue line, extending the U18s' lead to 7-2.
 
Goaltender, Mikhail Yegorov entered the game to play the last 11:50, turning aside six shots with no goals against.

The Lancers will be back in action on Saturday, September 30^th, for a 6:05PM CST. puck drop at Scheels Arena to take on the Fargo Force. That game can be caught on FloSports and Mixlr.