Rohloff's Goal with Six Seconds Left Hands Tri-City Thrilling 3-2 Friday Victory over Lincoln
USHL Tri-City Storm

Rohloff's Goal with Six Seconds Left Hands Tri-City Thrilling 3-2 Friday Victory over Lincoln

Published on January 9, 2026 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Tri-City Storm News Release


KEARNEY, Neb. - Luka Rohloff's eventual game-winning goal broke a 2-2 tie with six seconds left in regulation, handing the Tri-City Storm a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Lincoln Stars on Friday night at Viaero Center.

Tri-City (15-17-4, 34 pts) will look to sweep its three-in-three with the Stars at home tomorrow night. Lincoln (17-15-1, 35 pts) has lost six of its past eight games.

The Storm moved the puck to the offensive zone with approximately 15 seconds to go in regulation. After Luca Jarvis solely maintained possession below Lincoln's goal line, the Minnesota commit fed to Carson Pilgrim at the left half wall. Pilgrim pushed a feed to the left point and Rohloff who one-timed the puck, sending it past the glove hand of Lincoln netminder Charles Menard. The marker was Rohloff's second of the campaign and first since November 22.

The Viaero Center crowd erupted in applause.

Lincoln pulled Menard prior to the center ice faceoff after the goal, but could not gain possession in the final seconds.

Tri-City initially built a 2-0 lead in the first period. Lincoln slowly erased the advantage by the middle portion of the third frame.

In the midst of a prolonged Tri-City offensive zone possession, Maxwell Dessner ripped a right point shot through traffic that danced past the blocker side of Menard to begin the scoring 10:56 into the first period. The tally was Dessner's second of the season.

Tri-City doubled its advantage 41 seconds later. After intercepting a Lincoln exit pass at the left point of the Stars' zone, Pilgrim skated the puck to the left circle. The North Dakota commit released a shot that bounced hard off a Lincoln stick and ricocheted to the top left corner of Menard's cage. The marker was Pilgrim's team-leading tenth of the year and third in four games.

Lincoln got on the board at the 16:40 mark of the first. Alex Pelletier, who was positioned at the top of the right circle in the Tri-City zone, directly received the puck on a faceoff win from John Hirschfeld. The Boston College commit quickly snapped a low shot beyond Storm goaltender Owen Nelson for his 29th marker of the campaign. Pelletier entered Friday's action as the top goal scorer in the USHL.

After a scoreless second period, Lincoln tied the contest at 2-2 while on the power play with 6:40 gone by in the third. Hirschfeld tipped a Josef Eichler right point shot past Nelson for his 11th tally of the season.

Nelson was key in Tri-City's win, stopping 29 of 31 Lincoln shots. The Hudson, Wisconsin native earned his fourth win of the season. Menard, who halted 18 of 21 Storm attempts, falls to 3-3-1 on the year.

Tri-City's Pilgrim (1-1-2) and Lincoln's Hirschfeld (1-1-2) each finished with multiple points. Pilgrim has now registered six points over his past four appearances.

Up next: Tri-City ends its three-in-three with Lincoln on Saturday at Viaero Center. Puckdrop is set for 6:05 pm CT.

The Storm are offering Nebraska Lottery Rivalry Packs for Saturday's matchup. Get four tickets, four hot dogs and four cans of soda for $44. Each pack also includes 10 Nebraska Lottery scratch-off tickets. Limited quantities are available.

To purchase tickets, visit stormhockey.com, call the Storm at 308-338-8144, or stop by the Viaero Center box office in-person.

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United States Hockey League Stories from January 9, 2026


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