markonidis, vig celebration 3.15.26 vs. LIN

Men's Ice Hockey 3/15/2026 11:27:00 PM Joel Norman

LANCERS FORCE OVERTIME LATE BUT FALL TO STARS

OMAHA SCORES TWICE IN FINAL 4:15 OF REGULATION

Cam Caron and Charlie Vig scored twice but the Omaha Lancers fell to the Lincoln Stars, 7-6, in overtime on Sunday night at Liberty First Credit Union Arena

Kade Kohanski scored the game-winning goal 48 seconds into the extra frame to cap a back-and-forth battle. Omaha (14-26-3-2) overcame a two-goal deficit by scoring twice in the final 4:15 of regulation. Lincoln (27-25-4-1) held three different leads in the third period and failed to hold any of them but recovered to earn its second overtime win over the Lancers this season.

Caron scored both of the Lancers' last two goals, marking his first multi-goal game of the season. Vig scored two goals in a game for the second time this season as he lit the lamp twice in the first period.

Alex Pelletier and Layne Loomer both scored twice for the Stars. Lincoln scored three times in the second period and three more times in the third.

Vig opened up the scoring by tipping in Lefty Markonidis's pass from the top of the crease for a power-play goal. Markonidis took the puck from the left point all the way to the far wall and then glided up the boards to the base of the right circle before finding Vig in front of the net at the 14:28 mark of the first.

The Lancers dominated the period but only mustered one goal. Omaha outshot Lincoln, 18-8, but William Prowse shut down several excellent scoring opportunities. The Stars netminder finished the night with 37 saves.

The Stars tied the game up 3:03 into the second period when Cooper Williams dangled and scored around goaltender Devin Shakar's left pad. Omaha nearly regain the lead 31 seconds later on a two-on-none rush for Tanner Morgan and Jack Stanius. Stanius was upended right as he received Morgan's pass just in front of the right post and Lincoln killed off the subsequent penalty.

Vig put the Lancers back ahead at the 9:11 mark, once again from in the crease. Markonidis dished the puck to Vig at the front of the crease and he redirected it through Prowse's legs for his ninth goal of the season.

Lincoln took a 3-2 lead into the second intermission thanks to scoring the final two goals of the second period. Loomer scored on a two-on-one with Pelletier at the 14:26 mark and then Nik Young scored right off a faceoff win from the left point 40 seconds later.

Omaha responded with a four-goal third period, its most goals in the final frame of regulation this season. Stanislav Sanejstr scored his first USHL goal 1:10 in when he wired in a big rebound that came to him all alone atop the left circle. Artem Prima tried to center to the front of the net moments prior but it ricocheted behind the net. He followed the puck and looked it front but the puck trickled all the way up high to Sanejstr, who scored in his third USHL game.

The Stars took a 4-3 lead on a redirection from Pelletier in front on a shot from Brady Sloper just in front of the Lancers bench at the 2:42 mark of the third.

Prima earned his second assist of the night when he set up Yegor Kim with the equalizer 34 seconds later. Kim passed the puck from the base of the right-wing circle to Prima on his left in the slot but Prowse made the save. Kim backhanded the rebound in at the 3:16 mark around a sprawled-out Prowse for his 11th goal of the season and second in the last three days.

Lincoln strung together the next two goals to take a 6-4 advantage and seemingly put the game out of reach when Loomer and Pelletier netted their second goals of the night. The Stars went on a five-minute power play and Loomer fired a wrist shot top shelf past Shakar 56 seconds in at the 6:38 mark. Pelletier scored from the high slot at the 15:27 mark moments after being denied from nearly the same spot.

Before Lincoln could react, Caron maneuvered the puck around Prowse to make it a one-goal game again. As Caron reached out to receive a pass over the blue line, the puck was pokechecked away from him but right to Morgan on the far wall. With the defense focused on Morgan, Caron slipped behind the defense, received the pass, hesitated and then worked the puck around Prowse's left pad at the 15:45 mark.

Caron helped the Lancers tie the game for a third time in the third period with the Omaha net empty and an extra attacker on the ice. Adam Israilov fired a shot from far point and Caron, screening Prowse in front, redirected it in with 16.3 seconds to go. Caron has now scored seven of his nine goals on home ice.

It was deja vu on the game winner as Kohanski scored in overtime at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in a 2-1 win Nov. 1 and then did it again Sunday. He carried the puck from the blue to the edge of the left circle, sidestepped the defense and scored his 19th goal of the season in the first minute of overtime.

Vig (2+1), Caron (2+0), Kim (1+1), Prima (0+2), Markonidis (0+2), Israilov (0+2) and Kole Hyles (0+2) all recorded multi-point efforts. Shakar stopped 21-of-25 shots but exited the game due to injury 3:42 into the third period. Nils Maurins replaced him and turned aside 11-of-13 shots the rest of the way.

The Lancers were unable to win all three games of the weekend but earned five-of-six points. Omaha has picked up a point in four of its last five games and moved ahead of Waterloo and into seventh place in the Western Conference. The Lancers have scored 20 times in the last five games and netted at least three goals each game.

Omaha hosts the USA Hockey's National Team Development Program's Under-17 team next weekend. The puck drops at 7:05 on Friday and 6:05 on Saturday. It's Alumni Weekend as the Lancers welcome back former players to Liberty First Credit Union Arena. They will be signing autographs on the concourse during the first intermission of Saturday's game. Tickets are available at bit.ly/LancersHKY

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