Chicago Earns 5-4 Victory in Shootout Thriller
March 15, 2025 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Chicago Steel News Release
GENEVA, IL - In a high-scoring, high-intensity affair that saw nine goals and almost 50 combined penalty minutes, the Chicago Steel (17-31-4-1, 39 pts.) came out on top thanks to a two-goal effort from Will Tomko, earning a hard-fought 5-4 shootout win over the Green Bay Gamblers (25-25-1-2, 53 pts.) Saturday night at Fox Valley Ice Arena.
Tomko scored his ninth and tenth goals of the season and added an assist for his first career multi-point game. Ben Yurchuk scored his 13th goal of the season and tallied an assist for his ninth multi-point game this season. Cam Briere opened the scoring with his tenth goal of the season. Goaltender Jack Parsons made 15 saves and stopped all three shots in the shootout to record his 11th win of the season.
The Gamblers searched for a goal early in the contest when Vasily Zelenov made a nice move to cut to the net from below the icing line but was met by Parsons.
Green Bay nearly received a lucky break five minutes in when a dump in took a strange bounce off a stanchion and deflected to Zach Wooten in the slot who wristed a shot wide.
The road team continued to push two minutes later when Lukas Peterson attempted a cross-ice pass on an odd-man rush, but Jackson Crowder sprawled out to negate the backdoor chance.
At 12:35, the Gamblers broke the scoreless tie when Pavel Bocharov deflected a point shot from Cole Longacre between the legs of Parsons.
With just under three minutes left, the Steel made a heavy push when Luke Goukler moved to the net and was stripped, but the puck bounced around the crease to Briere who was stopped with the left pad of Henriquez.
Moments later, Briere stripped the puck from a Gamblers defender and lifted a picturesque backhand shot over the blocker of Henriquez to tie the game at 1-1.
The tie score lasted just 51 seconds as David Green found an open Zelenov in the slot, who dragged past Parsons and scored to make it 2-1 Green Bay.
Chicago outshot the Gamblers 10-8 in the opening period.
The second period was an entertaining one that featured five goals between the two teams as well as two altercations.
Chicago went back-to-back with goals to take its first lead of the game that started with Tomko dragging at the right wing to change the angle of attack and ripping a shot over the left shoulder of Henriquez to tie the game at two.
Just nine seconds later, a Steel dump-in got caught at the left side of the cage. With Green Bay defenders unaware of where the puck was, Yurchuk swooped in and tucked the puck underneath the Gamblers netminder to make it 3-2.
Shortly after, Briere and Longacre engaged in a tussle in the left corner that brought Fox Valley Ice Arena to its feet.
Green Bay made it a 3-3 tie three minutes later when the league-leader in goals, Will Zellers, moved into the slot and rifled a wrist shot past Parsons while on the power play.
The Steel regained the lead at 13:22 with Tomko getting his second of the night thanks to a perfect passing display when Yurchuk dished to Adam Valentini at the right wing who found Tomko at the back door for a power play goal.
The back-and-forth battle continued when David Green found twine from the left point after a Green Bay offensive zone faceoff win to knot the game up at four.
Chicago pressured in the third, with Valentini nearly adding another highlight-reel assist when he fed Ohman a one-touch pass, but the shot danced through the crease.
Later in the period, Valentini had an opportunity to score on a backhand deke around Henriquez, but was denied.
With time winding down in regulation, the Steel put forth a great shift, as Crowder circled the zone multiple times and sent several shots on goal. The solid pressure led to a Gamblers penalty that they successfully killed to keep the game tied.
The game went to overtime, with the Gamblers starting the extra frame with possession but failing to score.
Green Bay saw its best opportunity in overtime on a William Samuelsson breakaway that was broken up with a great backcheck by Schultz. Samuelsson had another great chance to end the game on a mini breakaway but was stopped by Parsons.
The Steel tilted the ice their way when Aidan Dyer dished to Ohman, but Henriquez made a sensational glove stop to keep the puck out.
The game proceeded to a shootout, where Parsons stopped all three shooters and Schultz sniped a shot over the right shoulder of Henriquez in the second round.
The Steel finished the regular season with a 4-4-1-0 record against the Gamblers this season.
The Steel will travel for three games next weekend in Plymouth, Michigan starting against the USA Hockey NTDP U18 team on Friday, March 21 at 6:00 pm.
All Steel tickets are digital, and fans are encouraged to purchase online in advance at ChicagoSteelHockeyTeam.com.
Group tickets and experiences, suites and other premium areas, including the Coors Light Chill Zone and Ice Side Tables, are also on sale now.
For more information, call 855-51-STEEL.
Chicago Steel Upcoming Schedule presented by Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush:
Friday, March 21 at USA Hockey NTDP U18 | 6:00 pm CT Saturday, March 22 at USA Hockey NTDP U18 | 6:00 pm CT Sunday, March 23 at USA Hockey NTDP U17 | 3:00 pm CT
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