USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints

Fighting Saints Outlast Stars for 5-4 Win in Dubuque

Published on December 16, 2011 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release


DUBUQUE, Iowa - A wild first period gave the Fighting Saints a 4-2 lead, and they held off a Lincoln Stars comeback to win 5-4 in Dubuque on Friday night.

The Fighting Saints grabbed a quick lead in the opening frame. Just as a Fighting Saints powerplay expired, Shane Sooth brought the puck ahead on a three-on-two rush. Sooth fed Zemgus Girgensons, who fired a shot onto Stars netminder Jackson Teichroeb, a former Fighting Saint. Teichroeb made the initial save, but Eric Freschi pushed the puck across the goalline to give the Fighting Saints a 1-0 lead. Just under a minute later, Eliot Grauer fed Tyler Lundey for a two-on-one redirection goal to give the Fighting Saints a 2-0 advantage.

Not yet eight minutes into the game, Brent Tate cleaned up a rebound in front of Fighting Saints goaltender Matt Morris to put Lincoln within one goal once again. Off the following faceoff, Gerard Hanson corralled the puck and fed Zemgus Girgensons for a one-time finish to give the Fighting Saints a 3-1 lead. The Stars would pull within one once again, with USHL point-leader Kevin Roy sending a puck in front of the Dubuque net that pinballed around and snuck past Morris.

With the Fighting Saints on the powerplay, a great effort by Zemgus Girgensons gave the Fighting Saints a 4-2 lead. Girgensons took the puck away at the Fighting Saints blue line, and kept it away from the Stars as he drove into the offensive zone. As he skated from deep in the Lincoln zone towards the blue line of the Stars, Girgensons fed Sooth in front of the Lincoln net, allowing Sooth to finish and give the Fighting Saints a 4-2 lead. They took that lead into the first intermission, having outshot the Stars 11 to 7 at that point in the game.

There was plenty of bad blood between the two teams in the second period, as the two sides combined for 54 penalty minutes, including a pair of fights. During the gameplay, the Fighting Saints stretched their lead to 5-2 late in the period. TJ Moor took the puck ahead on the rush, drove behind the Lincoln net, and fed Tyler Lundey, who converted for his second goal of the game. Eliot Grauer was credited with the secondary assist on the goal.

In the third period, the Stars mounted a comeback attempt. Kevin Roy tacked on his second goal of the game just over eight minutes into the frame. Colton Saucerman fired a shot wide of the net, which rebounded off the end boards to Roy for the easy tap-in. Slightly over five minutes later, Brent Tate capitalized on a goalmouth scramble to score and pull the Stars within one. Lincoln could not find the equalizer over the final minutes, however, and the Fighting Saints hung on for the 5-4 win.

Friday's game began a stretch of six consecutive games at home for the Fighting Saints. Heading into Friday, the Saints had played only seven games in Dubuque compared to fifteen on the road. After Saturday night's game against Waterloo, the Fighting Saints will take a break for Christmas and return to the ice on December 28, when they host Green Bay.

Check out the Dubuque Fighting Saints Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from December 16, 2011


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