Thursday, September 22, 2011

USHL Fall Classic Recap - Day 1

Press Release

Sioux Falls Stampede 4 vs. Des Moines Buccaneers 1
by Jim Olander, Sioux Falls Stampede
Four different players tallied goals while Kyle Rankin added three assists as to lead the Stampede to a 4-1 victory over the Des Moines Buccaneers Wednesday afternoon at the USHL Fall Classic in Sioux City, IA. It was the third straight victory over the Bucs in the pre-season for the Stampede who are now 3-0-0 in exhibition play. Joseph Lordo, Matt Van Voorhis, Justin Selman and Kent Sherrer all scored while Stephon Williams looked good again in goal with 31 saves.
The Stampede notched the first goal of the Fall Classic at 8:50 of the first period on a goal from Joseph Lordo. Lordo took a pass in the slot from Kyle Rankin and beat Des Moines netminder Jason Kasdorf on the stick side to give the Stampede a 1-0 edge. The Buccaneers had chances to tie the game with two powerplays in the period, but Stephon Williams and the Stampede penalty kill was strong, stopping the Bucs and holding a 1-0 lead. The Stampede added to their lead with just 4.5 seconds remaining when Kyle Rankin found Justin Selman open in the Bucs zone and Selman dropped a pass in the slot for Matt Van Voorhis who blasted a shot past the glove side of Kasdorf to give the Herd a 2-0 lead. The Stampede outshot the Bucs 11-10 in the period.
The Buccaneers got two more powerplay chances in the second period, but the Stampede penalty kill remained strong. Sioux Falls made it a 3-0 game at 11:23 of the second period when Justin Selman took a puck from Kyle Rankin in front of the Des Moines net and lifted it over an outstretched Christian Frey and into the net to make it a 3-0 game. The Bucs outshot the Herd 12-10 in the period, but the Stampede still lead 3-0 entering the final period.
The Stampede put the game away for good just 2:22 into the third period when Kent Sherrer took a pass in front the Des Moines net from Bryan Moore and knocked the puck through the pads of Frey to make it a 4-0 game. It would stay that way until 12:46 of the third period when Connor Schmidt broke Williams shutout bid on a shot from the high slot that went through traffic and through the pads of Williams. The Bucs had four more chances to score on the powerplay in the third, but Sioux Falls looked strong again on the kill and never allowed the Bucs to develop much as Williams continued his strong play in goal.
The Bucs outshot the Stampede 32-30 on the night and finished 0 for 8 on the powerplay while the Stampede were 0 for 1.
BOXSCORE 

Omaha Lancers 0 vs. Dubuque Fighting Saints 4
by Patrick Murray, Dubuque Fighting Saints
In his first full game of the preseason, Fighting Saints netminder Matt Morris picked up right where he left off.  The Clark Cup MVP of a year ago blanked the Omaha Lancers in a 4-0 Fighting Saint win, Wednesday in Sioux City, IA.
The win was the first of three games for Dubuque at the USHL Fall Classic one of the most heavily scouted tournaments in the hockey world.
Despite ten combined penalty minutes in the first period, which resulted in powerplay chances for both teams, neither side was able to break through in the first frame.  Both Omaha's John Keeney and Dubuque's Matt Morris were able to make quality saves to keep the game scoreless after one period.
Eric Freschi put the Saints on the board early in the second period.  After Kenny Matheson fired a shot, Lawrence Cornellier cycled the puck to Freschi who shot it past Keeney.  Over ten minutes later, the Saints added to the lead on the powerplay.  Mike Matheson took a puck into the zone, stopped hard at the half wall, and sent it to Max Gardiner between the circles.  Gardiner then beat Keeney through the five hole to give the Fighting Saints a 2-0 lead.  The Saints weren't done with their second period scoring.  With a screen in front from Ryan Siiro, Mike Matheson scored from the deep slot to give the Saints a 3-0 lead.  Kevin Morris got the assist on the tally.
In the third period, the Fighting Saints would add one more tally to the victory.  Gardiner sent a pass across the ice to Matt Youso, who was sneaking up from the point.  Youso then sent the shot into the top shelf to push the lead to 4-0, the eventual margin of victory.
Dubuque was 1-for-5 on the powerplay, while Omaha was 0-for-7.  Morris stopped 20 shots in the shutout win, while Keeney stopped 26-of-30 and took the loss.
BOXSCORE 

Lincoln Stars 3 vs. Chicago Steel 1
Charles Williams made 25 saves in goal to lead the Lincoln Stars to a victory in their Fall Classic opener.  Following a scoreless first period, Dominik Shine put the Stars on the scoreboard first just over a minute into the second frame.
The Stars spent much of the second period on the penalty kill, but successfully killed off five penalties and turned away all 10 power plays by the Steel during the game.
Teemu Tiitinen gave Lincoln a two-goal lead in the third period and just under three minutes later, Brad Hawkinson put them up 3-0.
Theo DiPauli would put the Steel on the scoreboard late in the third period.  Goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos made 32 saves for Chicago, including 18 in the second period.
BOXSCORE 

Tri-City Storm 2 vs. Fargo Force 4
Davey Middleton helped the Storm to a quick start when he scored just 55 seconds into the contest, then made it a 2-0 with his second goal of the period just 10 minutes later.  Luke Sandler cut the Storm lead in half when he netted a goal for the Force late in the first period.
After a scoreless second period, the Force came alive in the third.  Jonny Brodzinski tallied a goal midway through the third and Austin Farley netted the game-winner with just 59 seconds to play in the period.  Alex Iafallo would add an insurance when he scored an empty net goal.  Zane Gothberg made 22 saves to earn the victory for Fargo while Jacob Meyers stopped 32 shots for the Storm.
BOXSCORE

Cedar Rapids RoughRiders 2 vs. Sioux City Musketeers 6
by Jordan Berger, Sioux City Musketeers
The Sioux City Musketeers opened their 2011 USHL Fall Classic schedule with a 6-2 thumping of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders at Tyson Events Center. Sioux City improved to 2-1-1 on the exhibition season with tonight's win.

The Musketeers were once again led offensively by the rapidly emerging Kyle Criscuolo, who recorded his fourth, fifth and sixth preseason goals en route to a hat trick and the USHL lead in preseason goal scoring.

Austin Priebe bounced back from a rough outing in Green Bay with a solid performance in net, stopping 23 of 25 RoughRider shots and recording his first win of the preseason.

The Musketeers also received goals from Jackson Leef, Brad Robbins, and David Henry.

After falling behind 1-0 in the first, Criscuolo scored his first of two power play goals, when the Harvard commit re-directed a Noah Nelson centering pass from the wing.

Tied at 1 after the first period, the Musketeers would explode for three goals in the middle frame.

Third round draft pick Jackson Leef scored his first of the preseason early in the period to give Sioux City a very brief 2-1 lead. That's because Cedar Rapids' Greg Amlong would tie the game just 12 seconds later after his point shot deflected off a Musketeer defenseman past Priebe.

Deadlocked at 2, the Musketeers' Criscuolo would once again shine bright mid-way through the second period.

Three brilliant passes from defenseman Sam Piazza and his linemates Brett Patterson and Pontus Johannson sprung Criscuolo on a break who deked RoughRider netminder Matt McNeely and buried the puck on the backhand to give Sioux City a 3-2 lead.

 Criscuolo wasn't finished, as just over a minute later he would record his second power play goal of the night to complete the hat trick after Jackson Leef won an offensive zone faceoff. Sioux went up by a pair 4-2.

They would carry that lead to the dressing room and then add even more insurance in the third period when Brad Robbins and David Henry would increase the lead to 6-2.

 Priebe would shut Cedar Rapids down the rest of the way and Sioux City cruised to the win over the perennial power RoughRiders.

The Musketeers won the special teams battle handedly, stopping the RoughRiders on all three of their power plays while scoring two power play goals of their own. Sioux City outshot Cedar Rapids 31-25.

BOXSCORE

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

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