USHL Sioux Falls Stampede

Stampede Rally Late and Sweep Lumberjacks with OT Win

December 12, 2015 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Sioux Falls Stampede News Release


Sioux Falls, SD-They say good things come to those who wait and for the 9,753 fans who stuck around for the entire Stampede game at the PREMIER Center on Saturday that was certainly the case. Trailing 1-0 late in the game, Jack Becker scored with 31 seconds left for the Stampede to force overtime where Josh Passolt played hero, scoring with just 52 seconds remaining to give the Herd a 2-1 victory and weekend sweep over the Muskegon Lumberjacks (10-9-2). Sioux Falls defeated Muskegon 3-0 on Friday.

The win came on Military Appreciation Night in front of the largest crowd of the season in Sioux Falls and largest crowd overall in the USHL so far this season. Stefanos Lekkas was once again simply outstanding between the pipes stopping 32 of 33 shots as he improved to 9-5-1 on the season. For the weekend, Lekkas stopped 71 of 72 shots. With the victory, the Herd improved to 15-10-1 on the season and sit just one point behind the first place Lincoln Stars in the West.

The first period had plenty of end to end action and even a drop of the gloves between Eric MacAdams and Bo Hanson, but neither team scored and the game was scoreless entering the second. In the second period, the Lumberjacks broke through and scored their first goal of the weekend at 3:59 of the period when Collin Adams took the puck from the left circle into the slot and backhanded shot through traffic and past the stick side of Stefanos Lekkas to give the Jacks a 1-0 lead. For Muskegon, it marked the first time they beat Lekkas after being blanked on 39 shots the night before. The Herd went on to outshoot the Lumberjacks 11-9 in the period, but found themselves down 1-0 after 40 minutes of play.

Sioux Falls battled in the third to try and find the equalizer, but Muskegon goaltender Devin Cooley was on top of his game and kept the Herd off the board while the Jacks defense limited the Herd to just seven shots on goal in the period. The Stampede got a power play opportunity with just over three minutes remaining in regulation and pulled Lekkas for an extra attacker, but couldn't find the back of the net. With Lekkas still pulled, the Herd tied the game with just 31 seconds remaining when Jack Becker batted in the puck from the left side of the net, sending it through the pads of Cooley to send all 9,753 PREMIER Center fans to their feet in celebration. That goal would send the game into a seven minute overtime.

With the game still scoreless after four minutes of four-on-four, the game changed to 3-on-3 and the Herd ended it with just 52 seconds remaining when Josh Passolt skated into the slot and wristed a shot up high on Cooley who got just a piece of it, but the puck bounced up in the air and fell right behind him into the net to give the Herd a 2-1 victory and weekend sweep of the Lumberjacks. Muskegon outshot the Herd 33-29 in the game and went 0-for-2 on the power play while the Herd were 0-for-4.

The Stampede will play one more game before the Christmas break, next Friday in Fargo at 7:05 PM. Fans can catch the game live on KELO News Talk 1320-AM, 107.9-FM and KELO.COM. After next Friday, the Herd will be off until December 29th when they host Bloomington at 7:05 PM at the PREMIER Center.

Check out the Sioux Falls Stampede Statistics



United States Hockey League Stories from December 12, 2015


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