OMAHA, NE (KELO.com) — The Sioux Falls Stampede fell, 1-3, to the Omaha Lancers during the first game of the road-game series.
Opening the weekend, the Lancers marked the first goal of the evening just one minute and 11 seconds into the first period with a goal from Libor Nemec. The Lancers kept the Stampede off of the scoreboard and added to their lead with Aleksi Kivioja finding twine with 10:07 left in the period.
The second period had a different script than the first with Sioux Falls’ Sam Harris marking his 18th goal of the season just over seven minutes into the period. Outside of Harris’ goal, the scoreboard remained unchanged for the rest of the period. During this time the penalty boxes saw a stream of penalties. The Stampede saw Evan Murr in the box for a two-minute tripping call and Alex Rybakov for both a two-minute minor for checking from behind and a 10-minute misconduct penalty. The Stampede bench was also called for too many men on the ice. The Lancers’ Drew Montgomery and Nate Benoit also saw their shares of penalties, Montgomery being called for tripping and Benoit marking his own checking from behind call and misconduct.
The third period saw just one goal from the Lancers 19:03 into the period with the Stampede’s goaltender, Xavier Medina, pulled from the ice to gain the extra attacker. Both teams marked eight shots on goal during the period. The Stampede were able to stop their opponents from scoring during a three-on-five penalty kill that lasted one minute and 50 seconds with under seven minutes to play.
Ultimately, Xavier Medina tallied his ninth loss of the season, now sitting at 9-9-2 this season. He marked 33 saves, giving up two goals, versus Omaha’s Kevin Pasche who marked 27 saves on Sioux Falls’ 28 shots on net.
This pairing meets again Saturday evening for game two of the away series at 6:05 p.m. The Herd will then head home before going on a road trip to Lincoln on Friday, Feb. 3. Following the single road game, the team is back to Sioux Falls, S.D. for the biggest game of the season, rebranding as the Sioux Falls Fighting Wiener Dogs. Tickets for this game are available online, in person, or by calling the Stampede office.
