Sellout Crowd Watches Herd Win 5th Straight Game
February 21, 2015 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Sioux Falls Stampede News Release
Sioux Falls, SD-A sellout crowd of 10,678 watched Lucy take home the Sioux Nation Pet Clinic Wiener Dog Races title and the Stampede earn a hard fought 2-1 victory over the U.S. Under-17 squad Saturday night at the PREIMER Center. It marked the second time the Herd have played in front of a capacity crowd at home and the fans witnessed the Stampede's fifth straight victory. Cooper Marody and Lawton Courtnall tallied goals while Art Brey stopped 15 of 16 shots to earn the victory in goal as Sioux Falls improved to 23-15-5 and remain just four points back of Omaha for third place in the West.
Both teams got off to somewhat of a slow start to the game, but Marody got the Herd on the board with a power play goal at 11:19. Dillon Eichstadt and Lucas Buchta helped set up a pass to the top of the right circle for Marody who blasted it into the upper left hand corner of the net to give Sioux Falls a 1-0 advantage after one period.
During the first intermission Chocolate took home the first race title, blowing past all opponents who watch in amazement at the speed. Lucy earned the second heat title much to the delight of all 10,678 fans in attendance.
After a scoreless second period, the fans were treated to the championship race between Chocolate and Lucy. The two dogs were paraded around on a BMW convertible from Luxury Auto Mall before getting to the goal line. From there the two dogs raced to center ice with Lucy just edging out Chocolate at the finish line to earn the 8th annual Sioux Nation Pet Clinic Wiener Dog Races title.
Back on the ice for the third, it was Team USA making things interesting by tying the game at 6:37 on a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing display that ended with a one-time shot from William Lockwood to make it 1-1. The game wouldn't stay tied for long however as Collin Peters took the puck from the neutral zone, skated down the left wing boards and backhanded a shot that was stopped by U.S. goaltender Jake Oettinger, but the rebound bounced to Lawton Courtnall who jumped on the rebound and backhanded it into the net to give the Herd a 2-1 edge. The U.S. Under-17 would pull their goaltender late looking for the equalizer, but the Stampede were too much, earning the 2-1 victory.
Sioux Falls outshot the U.S. 30-16 on the night and went 1-for-4 on the power play while going 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.
The Stampede will now prepare for the first of ten straight games on the road next weekend with games at Waterloo and Lincoln. The Herd will not return home until March 26th when they host the Fargo Force at the PREMIER Center. Game time Friday in Waterloo is 7:05 PM and you can catch the game live on KELO News Talk 1320-AM, 107.9-FM and online at kelo.com starting at 6:40 PM.
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