SIOUX FALLS, SD. – The Omaha Lancers made the freezing trip north to take on the Sioux Falls Stampede inside the Denny Sanford Premier Center for Hockey Day in South Dakota. The fans were more scarce than usual with weather still playing a factor in attendance across the league, but the Lancers were looking to keep rolling whether it was in front of a sellout crowd or an empty arena.
 
The Lancers got the first and only goal of the opening period with a top-self wrist shot from Nick Pierre to hand him his tenth tally of the season. Christian Kocsis and Charlie Lieberman picked up assists on the scoring drive as the Lancers led 1-0 through 20 minutes.
 
The Lancers led in scoring chances, but were out shot through the opening frame, 10-5. Lucas Szyszka came up with some big saves back in the crease, shutting down all ten shots faced.
 
The second period of play contained three unanswered goals by the Stampede with Micah Berger, Jaksen Panzer and J.J. Weibusch finding the twine.
 
Although the Lancers were out shot 11-8 in the period, they showed life late. Nick Pierre buried his second goal of the evening and his 11^th of the season to make it a 3-2 game heading into the final frame with Ryan Kusler and Noah Jones tacking on assists on the play.
 
The final period consisted of the Lancers out shooting the opposition 7-6, and overall controlling the period in their attacking zone. However, the Stampede defense continued to form their solid base down low, allowing no opportunities from between the hash marks.
 
The two third period goals belonged to the Stampede with Tyler Borgula netting his 15^th of the season near the halfway mark of the frame, pulling Sioux Falls back up by two. Following that was an empty netter from Will McDonough in the closing minutes to give the Stampede the 5-2 victory.
 
The Lancers will look to shake off their first loss of 2024 and bounce back next week as they host the Muskegon Lumberjacks for a pair of home games. Puck drop for game one is set for 7:05PM CST. on January 19^th, with game two at 6:05PM CST. on the 20^th. Both games can be streamed on FloSports and Mixlr.