Stars Weekly
March 12, 2018 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Lincoln Stars News Release
LAST WEEK...
Friday, March 9: Stars 4, Dubuque Fighting Saints 2Shots: Stars 30, Fighting Saints 34
PP: Stars 0-for-6, Fighting Saints 1-for-6
The Lincoln Stars (24-20-1-1) continued their hot run with a 4-2 win over the Dubuque Fighting Saints (22-17-7-2) on Friday night at Mystique Ice Center.
Stars defenseman Wyatt Aamodt (7:56 1st) opened the scoring early before Fighting Saints defenseman Matt Stoia (15:25 1st) leveled the scoring, 1-1. The Stars scored three-unanswered goals thanks to forwards Ashton Calder (3:26 2nd) on a takeaway, Josiah Slavin (14:28 3rd) on an odd-man rush and Paul Cotter (15:56 3rd) on a one-time shot to triple the lead, 4-1. Fighting Saints forward Adam Tisdale (PP, 16:45 3rd) tipped a shot late, but the Stars prevailed in a 4-2 win.
Stars goaltender Tomá Vomá?ka (18-16-0) saved 32 of 34 shots in the win, while Fighting Saints netminder James Durham (3-2-2) halted 26 of 30 shots in the loss.
Saturday, March 10: Omaha Lancers 2, Stars 4Shots: Lancers 19, Stars 40
PP: Lancers 0-for-4, Stars 0-for-1
The Lincoln Stars (25-20-1-1)
Stars forward Dominick Mersch (19:26 1st) opened the scoring with a shot from the left wall to take a 1-0 lead. The Lancers scored two goals from defenseman Nick Perbix (2:28 2nd) and forward Noah Cates (SH, 11:36 2nd) to snag a 2-1 lead. The Stars scored three-unanswered to close the game starting with defenseman Wyatt Aamodt (16:43 2nd) on a tip to tie the game followed by the go-ahead goal from forward Paul Cotter (9:09 3rd) and the clincher by forward Josiah Slavin (SH EN, 19:02 3rd) to seal the 4-2 win.
Stars netminder Derek Schaedig (7-4-2) stopped 17 of 19 shots in the win, while Lancers goaltender Vincent Purpura (11-3-2) saved 36 of 39 shots in the loss.
Sunday, March 11: Stars 5, Sioux Falls Stampede 2Shots: Stars 35, Stampede 28
PP: Stars 0-for-5, Stampede 2-for-8
The Lincoln Stars (26-20-1-1)
Stars forward Ashton Calder (0:43 1st) set the tone early in the game and was followed by forward Tristan Ashbrook (5:29 1st) from the high slot and forward Josiah Slavin (8:49 2nd) to triple the lead, 3-0. Stampede forward Artem Ivanyuzhenkov (PP, 11:09 2nd) answered back for the home side to cut the lead to two, 3-1. Slavin (3:08 3rd) added a second tally to pull back ahead by four at 4-1. Stars forward Devlin McCabe (13:12 3rd) spread the lead to the largest of the night at four, 5-1. Ivanyuzhenkov (PP, 17:30 3rd) tacked on another goal, but the Stars won 5-2.
Stars goaltender Tomá Vomá?ka (19-16-0) saved 26 of 28 shots in the win, while Stampede netminder Jaxson Stauber (8-6-3) halted 30 of 35 shots in the loss.
THIS WEEK...
Thursday, March 15 vs. Des Moines Buccaneers - 7:05 p.m.
Friday, March 16 @ Omaha Lancers - 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, March 17 @ Des Moines Buccaneers - 7:05 p.m.
The Lincoln Stars finish their second of two three-game, three-day sets with two contests against the Des Moines Buccaneers and one against the Omaha Lancers. The Stars have had success against the Buccaneers this season, winning five of six meetings with now three games remaining in the nine-game schedule. The Stars have also won nine of 13 games head-to-head over the lat two seasons and now own a 62-31-0-3 record in the Tier I Era. The Stars are also 35-13-0-1 at the Ice Box against the Buccaneers. The Stars have now won two-straight games against the Lancers with two games to go in the nine-game season series. The Stars and Lancers have played in two-goal games during five of their seven meetings this season and look for their second-straight at Ralston Arena. The Stars are 53-56-4-9 against the Lancers since 2002-03 and 24-30-0-5 at Ralston Arena.
PROMOTIONS:
The Stars are hosting a public skate before Thursday's game, and kids who purchase a pass to skate get into the game for free with the purchase of an adult ticket. Admission for the skate is $7 if fans bring their own skates and $10 if a skate rental is needed. Also, fans can purchase $2 Busch Light throughout the game.
The Des Moines Buccaneers split their two-game road weekend against the Youngstown Phantoms, falling 4-1 on Friday and winning 1-0 in overtime on Saturday. Buccaneers forward Nicholas Werbik scored both goals on the weekend including the game-winner at 0:25 of overtime on Saturday. Forward Julian Napravnik helped Werbik score the goal in Friday's loss. Goaltender Jake Kucharski stopped 31 of 35 shots in Friday's loss, while Roman Durny halted all 30 shots in the weekend including 26-straight in Saturday's shutout win.
The Omaha Lancers fell in both games in Nebraska last weekend, falling 2-1 to the Chicago Steel at home and 4-2 to the Lincoln Stars on the road Saturday. Defenseman Nick Perbix scored two of the three goals on the weekend with one coming in each contest. Forward Noah Cates scored a shorthanded goal in Saturday's loss, and forward Filip Suchy and Christian O'Neill assisted in Friday's loss. Goaltender Zach Driscoll stopped 19 of 21 shots in Friday's loss, and Vincent Purpura halted 36 of 39 shots in Saturday's loss.
Western Conference Outlook:
The Omaha Lancers now only have a one point lead for the top spot in the conference after the Waterloo Black Hawks earned three of four points on the weekend and the Lancers dropped their third-straight game. The Sioux Falls Stampede won two of three games last weekend at home to leap over the Fargo Force, who split their two games. The Lincoln Stars have now won seven-straight games including all three last weekend to sneak within three points of the Tri-City Storm, who dropped their third-straight game. The Sioux City Musketeers dropped their lone game on Friday, and the Des Moines Buccaneers split their two road games.
STAR BITS...
The Stars swept all three games in a three-day span for the first time this season with last weekend's results. The Stars now have points in five of their last six games during three-game, three-day stretches, going 5-0-1-0 during that span while improving their record to 6-5-1-0 when playing three games in a maximum of four days. The Stars enter their final three-game, three-day set this weekend while following the same format as their previous two instances: one home game and two road games.
The Stars remain the hottest team in the USHL, stretching their win streak to seven games and point streak to nine games with a 8-0-1-0 record. Since the streak began on February 23, the Stars have outscored their opponents 33-16 and tallying four goals or more in six of those seven contests. All five wins against Western Conference opponents have been against teams in the top-four of the conference. Since January 30, the Stars are 12-2-1-0 with 25 points, moving from seven points out of a playoff spot to three points out of fifth place.
• Discuss this story on the United States Hockey League message board...
United States Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2018
- Stars Weekly - Lincoln Stars
- Big Return for Player of the Week Finkelstein - Waterloo Black Hawks
- USHL Names Players of the Week for Week 23 - USHL
- Stampede's Berdin Named USHL Goaltender of the Week - Sioux Falls Stampede
- Steel Captain Derek Daschke Commits to University of Nebraska Omaha - Chicago Steel
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.
