Saturday, September 24, 2011

USHL Fall Classic Recap - Day 3

Press Release

Waterloo Black Hawks 4 vs. Indiana Ice 6
by Indiana Ice
The Indiana Ice battled through a third-period surge to defeat the Waterloo Black Hawks 6-4 in day two of the USHL Fall Classic in Sioux City, Iowa.
Jon Gillies saved 40 of 44 bullets, facing 21 shots in the third period alone. Four Icemen each tallied two points (G,A) in the contest.
Jacob Fallon fired the puck past Waterloo goaltender Eamon McAdams in the eighth minute to give Indy an early 1-0 lead. Joe Fiala was credited with the assist. Dan Sherer followed up eight minutes later off a Fallon pass to give the Ice a 2-0 lead going into the second period.
Sean Kuraly maneuvered around McAdams to score the lone goal of the second period off a pass from Ryan Obuchowski to give the Ice a 3-0 lead heading into the third marker.
The Black Hawks tried to melt the Ice in the third, scoring four goals and outshooting Indy 21-6 in the final frame. Michael Hunterbrinker struck first on a penalty shot in the first two minutes of play. A.J Michaelson brought Waterloo within a goal. Minutes later, Cody Bradley chipped in a shot from Robert Polesello to increase Indy’s lead, 4-2.
Two unanswered goals by the Black Hawks’ Taylor Cammarata and Jamie Hill tied the game with just two minutes left in the contest. Polesello put Indy back on top off a pass from Bradley with under a minute to play. Obuchowski sealed the win with an empty-net goal from the Ice’s defensive zone in the closing seconds of the game.
BOXSCORE

Chicago Steel 5 vs. Des Moines Buccaneers 4 (SO)
by Scott Montesano, Des Moines Buccaneers
The Des Moines Buccaneers concluded their preseason slate by losing 5-4 in a shootout to the Chicago Steel at the USHL Fall Classic on Friday morning. Des Moines finishes the preseason going 1-4-2, including a 0-1-1 mark at the Fall Classic.

Anthony Greco scored two goals for the Buccaneers in the loss.  Former Buccaneer Chris Joyaux also scored two goals for a relentless Chicago team that spent all game in comeback mode.

Des Moines didn’t trail in the game until the third and final round of the shootout when Theo DiPauli put Chicago up 2-1 and Gasper Kopitar’s attempt was stopped by Mathias Dahlstrom to end the game.  Until that point, the Buccaneers had four separate leads but were never able to shake a pesky Chicago team that rallied each time.

Drake Caggiula put the Bucs in front just 16 seconds into the game. However, Chicago scored a power play goal from Joyaux to tie the game 1-1. An Ethan Prow power play goal put the Buccaneers in front late in the first period.

Chicago once again rallied, this time less than a minute into the second period when Philip Marinaccio scored.  The Buccaneers reclaimed the lead at 3-2 later in the second period while on the power play when they caught Chicago in a long line change and Greco finished a two-on-one breakout with Kopitar.  Nonetheless, Chicago again tied the score before the second period came to an end.

The teams traded goals in the third period, sending the game passed regulation.  The game went directly into a shootout, a difference from the regular season when a five-minute overtime will precede it. Also new this season is a three-round shootout as opposed to the five-round shootouts used for the last decade in junior hockey.

Both teams featured a cross-pollination led by Chicago which featured former Bucs Joyaux and Andrew Miller and whose head coach is Scott McConnell who was a Bucs' assistant in 2008-2009. The Buccaneers' Zack Rall and Mac Olson have skated for the Steel in the past.
BOXSCORE

Tri-City Storm 3 vs. Green Bay Gamblers 8
by Skip Berry, Tri-City Storm
The Tri-City Storm couldn’t slow down the Green Bay Gamblers offense in the second and third periods, in route to an 8-3 loss in the final preseason game for the Storm.
Green Bay (2-0-0 in preseason) led off the scoring at the 3:31 mark in the first period, as C Sheldon Dries scored from the left circle on the second Gamblers shot of the game on Storm goalie Pheonix Copley.
Tri-City (2-3-0 in preseason) would respond at the 6:07 mark on a D Bryan Sinz left-point shot that was redirected by LW Thomas Nykopp for his only goal of the preseason.
Defenseman Dakota Mermis’ goal at the 7:26 mark would regain the lead for the Gamblers in the first period. Green Bay outshot the Storm 11-5 in the first period.
Center Soren Jonzzon would score his team-leading third goal of the preseason from RW Michael Vecchione 7:36 into the second period following two more Gambler goals by D Markus Lauridsen and RW Ryan Rosenthal. Right-wing Grant Arnold scored his first of three goals following Jonzzon’s tally at the 14:05 mark in the period.
Left-wing Heikki Liedes scored with 1:08 left in the second period to pull the Storm within two goals at 5-3, but that was the closest Tri-City got to the Gamblers through the rest of the game.
Arnold would score a pair of opening goals that were assisted by C.J. Eick in the third period to complete his hat trick. Right-wing Nolan LaPorte would tip in D Dan Molenaar’s right-point shot to cap the scoring with 7:50 left in regulation.
Copley made 23 saves on 31 shots in the loss, while Adam Wilcox made 31 saves on 34 shots in the win for the Gamblers.
Tri-City went 0-for-4 on the power play, while going 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
BOXSCORE

Fargo Force 3 vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders 6
Six different skaters netted a goal for the RoughRiders as they picked up a victory over Fargo.  It was the Fall Classic finale for both clubs as each finished with a 1-2 record.
Thomas Forgione put Cedar Rapids on the board midway through the first period and less than two minutes later, Stu Wilson made it a 2-0 lead when he scored shorthanded.
Midway through the second frame, Riley Bourbonnais put the RoughRiders up by three goals with his first tally of the Fall Classic.  Fargo would come alive as Taylor Richart lit the lamp twice in a span of 31 seconds to put his club within one goal.
Cedar Rapids got an early goal in the third period from Nick Saracino, but Gabe Guertler would respond just 26 seconds later with a shorthanded goal.  However, it was all the closer the Force would get has Ryan McGrath and Brent Norris netted goals for the RoughRiders.
Goaltender Matt McNeely made 21 saves to record the win for Cedar Rapids.
BOXSCORE

Muskegon Lumberjacks 2 vs. Dubuque Fighting Saints 3 (SO)
by Patrick Murray, Dubuque Fighting Saints
It took a shootout in the final game to accomplish, but the Fighting Saints made it out of the Fall Classic with a three-game sweep, defeating Muskegon 3-2 in a shootout Friday afternoon.
Muskegon struck first in the opening period.  With the Fighting Saints shorthanded after a slashing call against Teddy Doherty, Alex Smith fired a puck from the right circle.  Gabe Antoni made a pad save, but the rebound remained loose in the crease.  Joshua Henke was there to knock it past Antoni, playing in his first game of the Fall Classic for Dubuque.
The Fighting Saints evened the scoring in the second period when Kenny Matheson, fresh out of the penalty box, created a rebound with a shot on Paul Berrafato.  The rebound kicked to the right side where Larry Cornellier was waiting to tie the game 2:16 into the frame.  Muskegon would answer back, as Joona Manninen scored for the Lumberjacks, with the assist from Smith, his second of the game.  Minutes later, with the Fighting Saints on the powerplay, Teddy Doherty corralled the puck at the point and fired it towards the net of Berrafato.  Max Gardiner tipped the puck on its way in, and it sneaked between the pads of Berrafato to give the Fighting Saints a tie game once again.
Neither team found the back of the net in the third frame.  Playing under Fall Classic rules, the teams proceeded directly to a shootout a the end of regulation.  Gerard Hanson extended the shootout with a goal in the fifth frame, and John Doherty won the game for Dubuque on a pretty dangle in the sixth.
BOXSCORE

Youngstown Phantoms 7 vs. Sioux Fall Stampede 2
The Youngstown Phantoms came out firing and scored seven goals to improve to 2-0 at the Fall Classic.
Mike Ambrosia collected two goals in a span of five minutes, including one shorthanded, while Stephen Collins scored late in the period to give the Phantoms 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission.  Youngstown outshot Sioux Falls 17-8 in the first period.
It was even more offense in the second period as J.T. Stenglein tallied a goal just over a minute into the frame and Austin Cangelosi scored just after three minutes had ticked off the clock.  Even Moore would get the Stampede on the board before Justin Stevens added to the Phantoms goal barrage late in the period.
Dylan Margonari tallied the seventh Phantoms goal and Todd Skirving added a goal for Sioux Falls.  Youngstown goaltender Sean Romeo picked up the victory making 30 saves and forward Austin Cangelosi ended with a three-point game (1g, 2a).
BOXSCORE

Team USA 6 vs. Sioux City Musketeers 4
Team USA scored four goals in the first period and held off the host Musketeers to capture the 6-4 win.
Nicolas Kerdiles scored two goals in a span of 46 seconds in the first period and Riley Barber added Team USA’s third goal over the first 5:38 of play.  Philip Lux put the Musketeers on the board midway through the period, but Barber added his second goal of the period to make the score 4-1 after the first 20 minutes of action.  It was the second straight two-goal game for Barber.
Maxim Gaudreault scored a power play goal for Sioux City to cut into the lead, but Team USA would respond on a goal by Quentin Shore.  The Musketeers wouldn’t go away however, as defenseman Jordan Schmaltz gathered a loose puck and buried it for his team’s third goal of the evening.
Frankie Vatrano tallied the sixth goal of the game for Team USA midway through the final period.  Josh Erickson got loose on a breakaway and buried a shorthanded goal for Sioux City, but that was all the closer the Musketeers would get as Team USA improved to 2-0 at the Fall Classic.
BOXSCORE


(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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