Lancers In Division Rumble at Tri-City
Published on February 10, 2007 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Omaha Lancers News Release
The Lancers meet the Tri-City Storm in a battle of the top two teams in the USHL's West Division tonight at the FirsTier Event Center in Kearney, Nebraska. Tonight's game is the fifth game of the season series between the Lancers and Storm, with the Storm leading the series 4-0-0 and the Lancers gaining two points for an overtime loss (October 7th at the Mid-America Center, 3-2), and a shootout loss (November 11th at Tri-City, 5-4).
The Lancers enter tonight's action with a record of 24-13-2 for 50 points and first place in the USHL West Division. Omaha is 9-1-0 in its last ten games, 11-7-1 on the road, and has fashioned an eight-game winning streak, the team's longest win streak since a 13 game win skein in February-March 2003. The Lancers did not play last night, following a 2-1 win over Waterloo on Tuesday night at the Mid-America Center. Omaha's next game will come next Saturday night, when the Lancers travel to Cedar Rapids, followed by a home game on Sunday, February 18th at the Mid America Center against the Green Bay Gamblers.
The Storm hosts the Lancers tonight with a record of 23-12-2 for 48 points and second place in the USHL's West Division. Tri-City is 10-6-2 at home, 6-4-0 in its last ten games, and is in the middle of a three-game losing streak. The Storm played at Lincoln last evening, losing to the Stars 6-3. After tonight's game, Tri-City hosts Green Bay next Friday night at the FirsTier Event Center, and Sioux City comes in on Saturday, February 17th.
RECENT HISTORY
It's been over a year since the Lancers last won in Tri-City. January 7th was the date, when Omaha claimed a 1-0 victory over the Storm. In that contest, then-Lancer Matt Moulakelis scored the only goal of the game, assisted by Nick Schaus in the second period. Mike Spillane made 22 saves in getting the shutout victory in the crease for the Lancers.
The Lancers' last win against the Storm came later that same month, when Omaha handled Tri-City 5-2 on January 28th, 2006 at the Mid-America Center. Current Lancer Brett Bruneteau scored a goal in that game and assisted on another score.
LANCERS REWIND
With a 2-1 win over the Waterloo Black Hawks on Tuesday, February 6th at the Mid-America Center, the Lancers claimed their eighth straight victory.
A two-goal second period was the difference in the game for the Lancers, who fell behind 1-0 on Kyle Reeds' 13th goal of the season for Waterloo at the 15:30 mark of the first period of play.
Pat Schafer scored the Lancers' first goal, netting his 10th goal of the year at the 11:41 mark of the second period, thanks to a feed from Mark Olver at the side of the net. Nick Petrecki also received an assist on the goal, which came in a scramble around Waterloo netminder Ryan Rondeau.
It was Petrecki who next provided the game-winning goal later in the second period, as he jumped on a loose puck near the top of the slot area, blasting home the shot into the back of the net. Jake Marto and Matt Thurber received assists on the goal, which was Petrecki's sixth red-lighter of the year and second game-winning goal of the season. It came at 16:01 of the second frame.
From that point, the Lancer defense took over, especially goaltender Drew Palmisano, who stopped 11 of Waterloo's 17 total shots on goal in the second and third periods.
For the game, the Lancers out shot the Black Hawks by a 27-17 margin, providing 11 of their 27 shots in the second period. Olver led the shooting attack with five of his team's 27 shots on net.
Neither team scored on the power play, with the Lancers ending up 0-for-5, while stopping all seven Waterloo power play chances. Omaha has now successfully skated off the opposition's last 43 consecutive power play opportunities.
In the contest, the Lancers took eight penalties for 16 minutes, while the Hawks were whistled six times for 12 penalty minutes.
Palmisano (13-8-3, 12-2-0 with the Lancers) was the winning goaltender with 16 saves. Rondeau (8-5-3, 0-3-0 vs. Omaha) took the loss for Waterloo with a 25 save performance.
The eight straight victories make up the second-longest win streak of the season for any one USHL team. The Lancers are 17-4-0 since December 1st.
MORE ON THE LANCERS
1-Michal Valent leads the Lancer goalies in goals-against-average at 1.66 and in save percentage at .944. Valent has fashioned the team's only shutout of the season, coming last Saturday in a 4-0 decision over the Chicago Steel. Valent is 3-0-0 as a Lancer goaltender. In the Lancers' last five games played, Michal is 2-0-0 with a goals-against-average of 1.49 and a save percentage of .948. On the road with the Lancers, Valent is 2-0-0 with a 2.49 GAA, and a save percentage of .925.
3-Keir Ross leads the Lancers in plus-minus stats for the season at plus-19, which puts him in a tie for second place in the USHL and a tie for first among league defensemen. Ross is plus-ten for the Lancers in the team's last ten contests.
5-Jake Marto is 16th among USHL defensemen in shots on goal with 74.
21-Mark Olver leads the Lancers in scoring with 34 points on 16 goals and 18 assists. Mark has cracked the top twenty in the league scoring race, in a tie for 19th in the league and is 16th in the USHL in goals scored. Olver leads the Lancers in both goals and assists, in game-winning goals at four (tied for third in the USHL), and in shots on goal at 132 (tied for seventh in the USHL). Mark leads the team in scoring over the Lancers' last five games with seven points (five goals, two assists). Olver also leads the team in scoring over its last ten games with 13 points (seven goals and six assists). In road games, Olver is also leading the way in scoring with seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points in 16 games away from home. Against Tri-City this season, Mark has one goal and five points. Olver has scored 11 points in his last seven games, dating back to January 19th. It's the second longest active point streak in the USHL.
24-Adam Comrie is 21st among the defensemen leaders in points with 15 on seven goals and eight assists in 36 games played. Comrie's seven goals put him in a tie for seventh in the league among blue liners. Five of Comrie's goals have come on the power play, ranking him in a tie for fourth place among USHL blue liners.
26-Jarmo Jokila paces the Lancers in shorthanded goals with three, putting him in a three-way tie for first in the USHL. Jarmo's 15 goals put him in a tie for 17th among the league goal scoring leaders.
28-Andrew Conboy is the team leader in power play goals with six among those on the active roster.
29-Nick Petrecki is the Lancer leader in penalty minutes at 123 for the campaign (ranks fourth in the USHL, second among league defensemen). Nick is also second in the USHL (and second with league defensemen) in minor penalties with 44. Two of Petrecki's six goals have been game-winners, ranking him in a tie for first among defensemen. Petrecki is also third among league defensemen in shooting percentage at .122 (six goals, 49 shots on goal).
33-Will O'Neill ranks in a tie for fourth place among USHL defensemen in shooting percentage at .118 (four goals, 34 shots on goal)
35-Drew Palmisano is the leader for the Lancer goaltenders in games played with 25 (14 with the Lancers), minutes played at 1384 (800 with the Lancers), and wins with 13 (12 with Omaha). Palmisano is 3-0-0 in the team's last five games with a goals-against-average of 1.67 and a save percentage of .923. In the Lancers' last ten games, Drew has a 6-1-0 record, 2.29 goals-against-average, and a save percentage of .915. In road games, Palmisano has a 4-1-0 record with the Lancers, a 2.99 GAA, and a save percentage of .917. Drew's overall goals-against-average of 2.86 is seventh among league goalies. He is tied for ninth in games played, tenth in minutes played, tenth in wins, and fourth in save percentage.
LANCER EXTRAS.....
Scoring Offense: 3.41 goals/game (7th in USHL)
Scoring Defense: 3.15 goals/game (5th in USHL)
Power Play Percentage: 13.75% (9th in USHL)
Road Power Play Percentage: 15.0% (7th in USHL)
Penalty Killing Percentage: 80.70% (11th in USHL)
Road Penalty Killing Percentage: 79.1% (11th in USHL)
Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 3 (8th in USHL)
Shorthanded Goals Scored: 9 (3rd in USHL)
Shootout Scoring Percentage: .467 (1st in USHL)
Shootout Defense Percentage: .233 (Tied for 4th in USHL)
Record vs. West Division: 10-12-2
Minor Penalties: 376 (1st in USHL)
Power Play Goals Allowed: 55 (Tied for 1st in USHL)
Average Penalty Minutes per Game: 23.51 (5th in USHL)
Overtime Record: 1-1
Shootout Record: 5-1
First Goal Record: 13-5-1
STREAKING LANCERS....
Eight straight wins, dating back to January 16th, is the longest active winning streak in the USHL and the second longest overall win streak this season. The Lancers also had a seven-game win streak from December 15th to January 5th. Omaha is 17-4-0 since December 1st.
Four straight road wins, dating back to January 19th, is the league's longest active road winning streak.
ALSO.....
The Lancers scored five power play goals in one game on November 22nd.
The Lancers scored two shorthanded goals in one game on January 5th.
LANCER COLLEGE ALUMNI UPDATE
Brett Motherwell's unassisted goal in the second tied the game and allowed Boston College to later claim a 2-1 win over Providence last night in Hockey East Conference action. The unassisted power play goal was Motherwell's second goal of the season for BC.
T.J Jindra's empty-net goal completed Notre Dame's 4-2 victory over Nebraska-Omaha last night at South Bend, Indiana. The Irish captain scored his second goal of the season with just three seconds remaining in the contest. Ryan Thang provided an assist on the game-winning goal with just ten seconds remaining in the game.
Trevor Smith scored his 16th goal of the season and made it a game-winner for New Hampshire in the Wildcats' 3-1 conquest of Merrimack last night. Smith was the game's number two star.
Nate Gerbe's shorthanded goal in the third period helped Boston College defeat Harvard 3-1 in the Beanpot Tournament in Boston on Monday night. The second period score was Gerbe's 13th goal of the season.
Ted Cook found the back of the net again for Niagara last Saturday night, scoring his nation-leading 27th goal of the season, but the Purple Eagles lost to Robert Morris by a score of 5-2. Cook's goal was Niagara's second goal of the contest and came in the second period, assisted by another former Lancer, Chris Moran.
Tony Lucia scored the game winning goal in the second period of Minnesota's 2-1 victory over Alaska-Anchorage last Saturday night in Alaska. The goal was Lucia's sixth goal of the season. Mike Howe assisted of the Gophers' first goal of the contest.
Howe was named the WCHA's offensive player of the week for last week. He recorded a four-point weekend for Minnesota, scoring a goal and assisting on three others.
Jeff Lerg was the number one star of the game last night in Michigan State's 2-1 overtime win over Ferris State. Lerg stopped 33 shots on goal in posting his 18th win of the season (18-8-2).
Nate Raduns and Grant Clafton assisted on separate goals for St. Cloud State in the Huskies' 3-1 victory over Colorado College last night. Raduns assisted on the game-winning goal in the second period.
Jeff LoVecchio has been named the CCHA's January Player of the Month, after scoring 17 points in nine games for Western Michigan.
United States Hockey League Stories from February 10, 2007
- Six On One Night, Half A Dozen On Another - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Lancers In Division Rumble at Tri-City - Omaha Lancers
- Six In Sioux City - Waterloo Black Hawks
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
