Stampede's Win Streak Snapped in Regular Season Finale in Fargo
April 9, 2016 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Sioux Falls Stampede News Release
Fargo, ND-With several starters sitting this one out, the Fargo Force rolled past the Sioux Falls Stampede 6-1 Saturday night at Scheels Arena to close out the regular season. The Herd finish the year with a 31-25-4 mark and in fourth place in the Western Conference. The Herd will face the top seeded Tri-City Storm in the Western Conference Semi-Finals beginning next weekend in Kearney. The Herd will host the Storm for Games 3 and 4 at the PREMIER Center. An official schedule with dates and times will be made available on Monday.
Daniel Warpecha tallied the only goal in the game for the Herd while Ales Stezka stopped 26 of 32 shots in goal for the Stampede who saw their six-game winning streak come to an end, but still finished the season with an impressive 5-2-1 mark against the Force.
For the second night in a row it was the Force who grabbed the first goal of the game. The Force took a 1-0 lead at 11:47 of the period when Jake McLaughlin found Jere Astren inside the right circle who one-timed the pass under the crossbar and past Ales Stezka to give Fargo a 1-0 lead. The Force would extend their lead less than three minutes later when Carson Musser snuck in behind the Stampede defense and knocked home a pass at the bottom of the left circle and past the stick side of Stezka to make it a 2-0 game. Fargo took that lead into the locker room despite being outshot by the Herd 11-8 in the period.
The Herd were hoping things would get better in the second, but they only got worse. The Force scored four times in the period to take a commanding 6-0 victory. Grant Meyer scored just 2:16 into the period to make it a 3-0 game and from there things got away from the Herd. A pair of fights seemed to give the Force a bit of momentum as Jake McLaughlin scored at 4:30 followed by goals later in the period by Riley Tufte and Jere Astren to take a commanding 6-0 lead into the locker room. Fargo outshot the Herd 10-8 in the period.
Things settled down in the third as Fargo outshot the Herd 13-9. Sioux Falls got on the board at the 14:51 mark when Daniel Warpecha picked up a loose puck at the top of the right circle, skated in and wristed a shot past Fargo goaltender Robbie Beydoun to make it a 6-1 game. That would be the only goal the Herd would have on this night as the regular season came to an end. Fargo finished the night 2-for-4 on the power play while the Herd finished 0-for-2.
The Stampede will now prepare for postseason play which begins next weekend in Tri-City. Fans can catch Games 1 and 2 of the series live on KELO News Talk 1320-AM, 107.9-FM and online at KELO.com starting at 6:40 PM each night.
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United States Hockey League Stories from April 9, 2016
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