Stars Open Weekend Road Trip in Fargo Tonight
December 6, 2024 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Lincoln Stars News Release
The top two teams in the Western Conference match up this weekend as the Lincoln Stars travel north to face the Fargo Force Friday and Saturday night at Scheels Arena.
The first-place Stars sit three points ahead of the Force at the beginning of the new month. The two teams split their previous two matchups with Fargo winning on the road, 5-1, Nov. 8 and Lincoln bouncing back the next night, 4-2. Fargo is one-of-three teams to score five goals against the Stars this season.
The Stars stretched their winning streak to three games by winning a pair of home games last week with a 5-0 win over Tri-City on Thanksgiving eve before a 4-3 win vs. Sioux City. William Prowse recorded a 35-save shutout against the Storm and then Lincoln improved to 7-0 in one-goal games. Caeden Herrington scored three goals over the two games to earn the latest USHL Defenseman of the Week honor. The Stars are 9-2 when a defenseman scores with seven of those games coming when Herrington has scored (6-1).
The Force lost on Thanksgiving eve, 3-2, at Sioux City before defeating Omaha, 3-1, at home on Black Friday. They have earned a point in six straight home games and are 6-2-0-2 at Scheels Arena. Fargo has won 12 of the last 15 regular-season head-to-head matchups vs. the Stars at Scheels Arena.
A big storyline around the USHL this weekend is the departure of players for the 2024 World Junior A Challenge, which runs Dec. 9-15 in Camrose, Alberta. Stars forward Jack Pechar and defenseman Jacob Rombach (Minnesota) will be away from the team until the return from the holiday break due to playing for United States Junior Select Team. Pechar is tied for sixth in the USHL with 23 points, tied for second with 10 power-play points and tied for third with 16 assists. Rombach was named a 'B' rated prospect by NHL Central Scouting in its Preliminary Draft Watch List this fall, projecting as a second or third round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and is averaging 17:27 time on ice, fifth-most on Lincoln.
Fargo is sending Reid Daavettila, Sam Laurilla and Finn McLaughlin to the WJAC. Daavettila is tied for 17th in the USHL with 18 points, good for third-most on the Force. Laurilla and McLaughlin have the most and a tie for the third-most points among USHL defensemen, respectively. Laurilla leads all Fargo skaters with 22 points, leads all USHL defensemen with 18 assists and only has seven games without a point this season. McLaughlin leads all USHL blueliners with 64 shots and two shootout goals.
The puck drops on Friday night at 7:05 before a 6:05 game Saturday to wrap up the weekend road trip. This weekend concludes a road-heavy stretch for the Stars in which six-of-eight games played are away from the Ice Box. The Stars are 5-1 during this stretch thus far. Both games can be watched on FloHockey with an active subscription or heard for free on Mixlr.
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United States Hockey League Stories from December 6, 2024
- Stars Fall in First Game of Weekend at Fargo - Lincoln Stars
- Stampede Extend Streak in OT Thriller - Sioux Falls Stampede
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- Weekend Opener Ends in OT - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Steel Fall to Capitols in Madison - Chicago Steel
- White Stands Tall, Caps Win 5-2 - Madison Capitols
- Stars Open Weekend Road Trip in Fargo Tonight - Lincoln Stars
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