USHL Fall Classic Recap - Day 2

Press Release

Team USA 4 vs. Omaha Lancers 3
by Dan Fremuth, Omaha Lancers
Riley Barber scored two goals, including the game-winner with just nine seconds left in regulation, as the USNTDP Under-18 team outlasted the Omaha Lancers 4-3 Thursday morning at the 2011 USHL Fall Classic. 
Omaha wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Adam Chlapik found Jonathan Liau in the slot just 1:14 into the contest for Liau’s first goal of the preseason.  The five-on-five even strength tally marked the first time in four games this preseason that the Lancers have netted the game’s first goal.  Omaha goaltender John Keeney was razor sharp in keeping USA off the board turning aside all 12 shots he faced in period one.
Team USA evened the contest just 2:12 into the second period when, while on the power play, Stefan Matteau won a battle for a loose puck at the top of the goal crease in driving home his first goal of the preseason.  Matt Grzelcyk earned the only assist on the man advantage marker.  The Lancers regained the lead though just three minutes later when Chlapik fed a perfect cross-crease pass to Myles McCauley on the left wing who made no mistake in blasting in his first goal of the preseason.  The five-on-five tally came 5:13 into the middle period.  Team USA evened the game once again though with just under minutes remaining in the period when Matthew Lane launched a chip shot from the top of the goal crease over the catching mitt of Keeney and into the back of the Omaha net.  Thomas DiPauli garnered the only assist on the equalizing tally notched 16:10 into the second period.
USA grabbed its first lead of the contest with just under six minutes remaining in regulation when a beautiful move by Matteau on the wing opened up room for a centering feed which found Riley Barber for Barber’s first goal of the preseason.  Seth Jones earned the secondary assist on the even strength goal scored 14:22 into period three.  The Lancers were quick to respond though and evened the game at three apiece a little over three minutes later when Kenny Gillespie fed a centering pass from behind the USA goal, which was fired home by Liau from the slot.  Team USA, however, would break the tie late when, with just 9 seconds left in regulation, Matteau found Barber at the front of the net again for the game-winning tally. 
Jared Rutledge earned the victory in goal for USA after relieving starter Collin Olson just past the midway point of regulation.  Rutledge registered 14 saves on 15 Omaha shots for the win while Olson recorded 9 saves on 11 shots in the no decision.  Keeney suffered the loss in goal for the Lancers despite another 26-save performance at the Fall Classic.
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Chicago Steel 1 vs. Muskegon Lumberjacks 4
by Christopher Heimerman, Muskegon Lumberjacks
Blake Voth undoubtedly sent a message with his stalwart performance between the posts during the Jacks’ 4-1 win over the Chicago Steel Thursday morning.
The Muskegon Lumberjacks netminder from Herbert, Saskatchewan, stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced and only allowed a goal on a redirect at the tail end of a lengthy 5-on-3 Steel power play during the Jacks’ first tilt of the United States Hockey League Fall Classic at the IBP Ice Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Jacks got on the board just 3:23 into the first period when first-round pick and Richmond Hill, Ontario, native Ryan Lomberg twisted a wrister past Steel goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos from the edge of the left-side faceoff circle. Jordan Master picked up the assist and Lomberg earned his third assist of the exhibition slate when he and Travis Walsh factored on a power-play goal by Tyler Heinonen with 2:31 left in the opening frame.
Eden Prairie, Minn., native and Minnesota Wild draft pick Nick Seeler lit the lamp midway through the second period and fellow defenseman Mark Yanis followed suit on the power play about two minutes later. Phillip Marinaccio was able to redirect the puck past Voth with 5:20 left in regulation to spoil the shutout.
The Jacks went 2-for-6 on the power play and 9-for-10 on the penalty kill, including killing off five odd-man disadvantages in the first. Despite all the time on the kill in the first, the Jacks outshot the Steel 13-5 and also enjoyed the overall shot advantage, 39-25.
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Waterloo Black Hawks 4 vs. Fargo Force 1
by Tim Harwood, Waterloo Black Hawks
Waterloo Black Hawks goaltender Jay Williams stopped 20 of 21 shots he faced on Thursday afternoon, helping his team to a 4-1 win during their first game at the 2011 USHL Fall Classic in Sioux City against the Fargo Force.
Ian McCoshen gave the Hawks their first lead 7:01 into the first period. The Force tied the game with their lone tally by Jimmy McNulty at 11:38 of the second. A little more than six minutes later, A.J. Michaelson put Waterloo in front for good with an unassisted shorthanded goal.
Early in the final frame, the Hawks padded their lead. Ryan Papa converted a power play opportunity at 5:48. Sixty-two seconds later Mark Naclerio found the net again. Both late goals were set up by Taylor Cammarata.
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Des Moines Buccaneers 1 vs. Indiana Ice 2 (OT)
by Scott Montesano, Des Moines Buccaneers
Sean Kuraly knocked in a rebound only 29 seconds into overtime to lift the Indiana Ice to a 2-1 win over the Des Moines Buccaneers on day two of the USHL Fall Classic on Thursday afternoon.

Indiana began the overtime period with a power play that carried over from regulation and quickly set it up in the Des Moines’ end. Veteran Danill Tarasov fired a wrister from the right circle that deflected off a stick and off the mask of Buccaneer goaltender Jason Kasdorf.

Kasdorf was left momentarily vulnerable as the shot no doubt stung him for a second. The puck caromed behind the net and then in front where Kuraly got control and fired into the goal before Kasdorf could recover.

Indiana scored both of their goals on the power play with their first coming at 18:53 of the first period from Emil Rogers.  Des Moines’ lone goal came midway through the second; moments after both teams switched their goaltenders. At 10:04, Cameron Yarwood’s shot from inside the right circle rolled into the goal off of new Indiana net minder Dan Izyk’s shoulder to tie the game.

Izyk would redeem himself later in the second, stonewalling Anthony Greco’s backhand shot in front by kicking out his left leg, dampening what had been an excellent rush up ice for the returner.

Both Des Moines’ goaltenders had their moments as well as Christian Frey started the game and robbed Danill Tarasov on a breakaway attempt when the veteran looked to slide the puck between his legs. Meanwhile, Kasdorf has a couple quality leg saves in the third period to keep the game tied.

While Indiana went 2/8 on the power play, the Buccaneers were 0/9.
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Youngstown Phantoms 5 vs. Cedar Rapids RoughRiders 4
by Bart Logan, Youngstown Phantoms
The Youngstown Phantoms battled back three times and JT Stenglein put them ahead to stay with 27 seconds remaining in regulation to defeat last year’s USHL regular season champion Cedar Rapids RoughRiders 5-4 Thursday afternoon at the Tyson Center.
The RoughRiders jumped out to the lead in the first period with Phantoms center Richard Zehnal in the penalty box for hooking. Nolan Zajac found Austin Ortega, who beat goaltender Matt O’Connor to put the RoughRiders up 1-0 with 9:19 remaining in the period and they carried that lead into the first intermission.
The Phantoms were hit with a slew of penalties early in the second period – three in the first four minutes – but were able to kill off them all and built off that momentum. When they got their first man-advantage, it did not take them long to capitalize and Mike Gunn ripped into a slap shot from the right point, which was deflected off a defender’s stick and redirected past RoughRiders goaltender Peter Traber to knot the game up 6:57 into the period.
Cedar Rapids responded a little more than two minutes later when Ryan McGrath put one past O’Connor and Stu Wilson stretched the lead to two with 4:59 remaining in the second off Zajac’s second helper of the game.
The trailing 3-1 in the third, the Phantoms found themselves on their sixth power play of the game and Dylan Margonari put one past Traber low on the glove-side to cut the lead down to one. Just 24 seconds later Pat Conte tied the game up sending a back-hander past Traber with assists to Zehnal and Stenglein but the euphoria would be short-lived. The RoughRiders came right back and Nick Saracino re-took the lead just 46 seconds later to put them up 4-3.
With 10:15 left in the period the RoughRiders took their second penalty of the period and the Phantoms made them pay. Zehnal received a pass from Sam Anas in the slot and put a shot low. Traber was able to make the save but the puck kicked back out to Zehnal who calmly brought it to the backhand and roofed it to tie the game for a third time.
With 27 seconds remaining in regulation Stenglein came streaking down the left side boards, wound up and let loose a blistering slap shot that beat Traber on the glove-side to give the Phantoms their first lead of the game.
The RoughRiders would not go down quietly, though, and peppered O’Connor with shots in the final seconds of the period. But the Boston University recruit stood tall, turning away a flurry of chances to preserve the win.
BOXSCORE

Lincoln Stars 3 vs. Green Bay Gamblers 4 (SO)
In their first game of the Fall Classic, the Gamblers were propelled by a three-goal second period before winning in the shootout against the Lincoln Stars.
Lincoln struck first when Jared Hanson scored midway through the first period and went into the break with a 1-0 lead.  Green Bay came alive in the second period when Nolan LaPorte scored an early goal followed up with tallies by Sheldon Dries and Alex Kile.  The three goals came in a span of 7:15 and gave the Gamblers a 3-1 advantage.  Kevin Roy cut the lead to one when he netted a goal for the Stars.
In the third period, Dominik Shine evened the score 3-3 when he converted on the power play.  The game then headed to a three-round shootout.  Goaltender Ryan McKay turned aside all three Lincoln shooters and Ville Jarvelainen converted in the second round to seal the victory for Green Bay.  McKay finished with 27 saves to record the victory while Lincoln netminder Charles Williams stopped 31 shots.
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Tri-City Storm vs. Dubuque Fighting Saints
by Patrick Murray, Dubuque Fighting Saints
The Fighting Saints kept the pressure off Matt Morris throughout Thursday night's game against the Tri-City Storm at the USHL Fall Classic in Sioux City.  The Fighting Saints allowed only 11 shots on goal as they defeated the Storm 3-1.
Despite a pair of powerplay chances and outshooting Tri-City by a 12-3 margin, the Fighting Saints were unable to score in the first period.  Pheonix Copley was outstanding for Tri-City, and Matt Morris was rarely tested for Dubuque as the netminders ensured that the two teams went to the locker rooms after twenty minutes with a scoreless tie.
The Fighting Saints found their way onto the scoreboard 4:41 into the second period.  With the Saints on the powerplay, Michael Downing received a pass from Tyler Lundey at the right point, and fired a shot towards Copley's net.  The puck rang off the post, and deflected off of the back of Copley.  After hitting Copley, the puck moved towards the goalline, and was ruled to have crossed for a goal.  Ryan Siiro got credit for the secondary assist on the tally.
In the third period, the Fighting Saints added two insurance goals.  After a Kenny Matheson shot was turned aside by Copley, Kevin Morris picked up the rebound and fed Eric Freschi in front of an open cage for the Saints' second goal 14:05 into the period.  Not even two minutes later, Zemgus Girgensons came from behind the net and snapped a quick wrist shot towards the upper right corner of the cage that beat Copley to stretch the lead to 3-0.  Gerard Hanson and Shane Walsh assisted on the goal, Girgensons' fourth of the preseason.
With the Fighting Saints shorthanded in the final seconds of the game, Soren Jonzzon registered Tri-City's lone goal of the contest.  The Fighting Saints outshot the Storm 40-11 over the course of the game, and Tri-City failed to put a shot on goal during the second period.
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(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)