Lancers Pick up a Point, But Fall in a Shootout to Waterloo
January 28, 2022 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Omaha Lancers News Release
WATERLOO, IA. - The Lancers headed to the eastern side of Iowa for just their second matchup of the season with the Waterloo Black Hawks. The only other meeting between these two teams was back on October 15th, 2021, back in Omaha, which resulted in a 2-1 shootout win for the Lancers.
Garrett Wright was the lone goal scorer for Omaha in regulation and tacked up the game winning shootout goal as well to seal the victory.
The Lancers came out strong in the first period, racking up 10 shots on goal. Waterloo also came out of the gate firing, but had some trouble hitting the net early on.
Omaha goaltender Kevin Pasche and Waterloo net minder Emmett Croteau both came out with strong showings to keep the score locked at zero through the first period. As the opening 20 minutes concluded in a shot count of 10-6 in favor of Omaha.
Both offenses turned up production in the second period as the silence was finally broken.
It started just over the halfway point of the period when Waterloo headed into the attacking zone. Cooper Wylie was able to find Gavin O'Connell who went bar-down, blocker side on Kevin Pasche to take the 1-0 lead.
That was followed up by a Lancers' goal just a few minutes later.
Matt Romer found Owen Fowler on the outside of the attacking zone. Fowler snuck a pass over to Morgan Winters in the slot area, who blasted one into the upper, blocker side corner on Croteau to lock the game at one goal apiece.
About a minute later, Michael Cameron started up a play in the offensive zone, moved the puck up to Jared Wright towards the hashmarks, who then scooted the puck up to Chris Hedden at the blue line.
Hedden hesitated, then blasted a slap shot through traffic that beat Croteau blocker side once again. Giving the Lancers a 2-1 lead in which they took into the second intermission.
Waterloo offense got going a bit following Hedden's goal, but Pasche had all the answers between the pipes to hang onto the one goal lead.
The third period was controlled by the Waterloo Blackhawks, resulting in the game tying goal coming off the stick of Garrett Schifsky with just over five minutes left to play.
Omaha had a rush late in regulation, but could not capitalize, sending this game into overtime tied 2-2.
The overtime period resulted in many scoring opportunities for both teams, but nothing came of it as both net minders stood strong.
The shootout was a goalie battle from start to finish, with both goalies starting 3/3 in shooters faced and saves made.
After Croteau made a save on Omaha's fourth shooter, Garrett Wright, it was Gavin O'Connell's turn to shoot for Waterloo.
O'Connell came in quickly on Pasche and made a nice, forehand-to-backhand move, sticking one between the left side post and Pasche's skate, resulting in a 3-2 shootout victory for Waterloo.
The Lancers will be back in action tomorrow (1/29) back at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in Omaha as they will host the Sioux Falls Stampede for the third time in as many weeks. Puck is set to drop at 6:05PM, and that game can be caught on Mixlr and HockeyTV.
• Discuss this story on the United States Hockey League message board...
United States Hockey League Stories from January 28, 2022
- Stampede's Rally Comes up Short in Sioux City - Sioux Falls Stampede
- Gamblers Fall in Return to Resch - Green Bay Gamblers
- Steel Fall 4-2 in Road Battle against Madison - Chicago Steel
- Lancers Pick up a Point, But Fall in a Shootout to Waterloo - Omaha Lancers
- Hutson's Two Goals Lift Muskegon over Green Bay 5-4 - Muskegon Lumberjacks
- Storm Seeks to Tie Team Record in Frosty Cup - Tri-City Storm
- Mike Picozzi Named New Majority Owner of the Lancers - Omaha Lancers
- USHL, Omaha Lancers Announce New Majority Owner - USHL
- Stars Get to Overtime, Fall to Tri-City - Lincoln Stars
- Storm Defeat Stars in Overtime 3-2 - Tri-City Storm
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.
