KEARNEY, NE – Despite a forceful Tri-City comeback attempt in the final two minutes of regulation, a pair of huge second period goals by Lincoln's Alex Pelletier and Gio Degiulian helped lift the Lincoln Stars over the Storm 4-3 on Saturday night at Viaero Center. 

Lincoln (9-2-0, 18 pts) earned a split in the home-and-home series with its victory. Tri-City (4-5-2, 8 pts) dropped the opener to a three-game homestand. 

For the second straight night, Tri-City was the first team to score. After a board battle on the right wing half wall in the Storm offensive zone, the puck made its way to Carson Pilgrim, who was positioned near the right point. Pilgrim, who shot the puck toward the Lincoln net, was able to beat Stars goaltender William Prowse on a snapshot to make it a 1-0 game. 

Lincoln tied it with 7:02 remaining in the first. Tanner Henricks was fed a puck from the right wing corner of the Tri-City zone by Daniel Shlaine. Henricks rifled a shot from the center point  through traffic past Storm goaltender Erick Roest to make it a 1-1 contest. 

Tri-City was the first team to score in the second period and re-took the lead early in the frame. After Lincoln's Dashel Oliver picked up a tripping minor with 27 seconds gone by in the period, the Storm power play got to work. About a minute into the man advantage, Carmelo Crandell fired a hard snapshot near the blue line past Prowse. It was Tri-City's fourth power play goal of the season. 

Lincoln came up with its two massive second period goals, however, to take a lead into the second intermission. Pelletier netted his fourth of the year on the power play at the 4:03 mark of the second following a Dallas Vieau tripping minor to tie the game. The Stars power play went 2-for-3 across the two-game series.  

Later in the frame, Lincoln grabbed a 3-2 advantage. Digiulian, positioned on the left post of the Tri-City net, tipped a hard shot from the blue line by Caeden Herrington. The tally handed Lincoln its first lead in each game of the home-and-home set. 

Tri-City had a golden opportunity late in the second period and early in the third to tie the contest. Caeden Herrington was assessed a game misconduct for head contact following a hard hit on Tri-City's Landon Fandel in the Lincoln zone at the 17:43 mark of the second. About 20 seconds later, the Storm received a full, two-minute 5-on-3 power play following a Lincoln bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. Despite several good offensive looks and opportunities, Tri-City could not find the back of the net over the duration of each penalty. 

The Stars added another goal on a Tri-City turnover at the Storm blue line 6:22 into the third period. Digiulian grabbed a coughed-up puck, walked it into the Storm zone, and fired a snapshot from the high slot into the top left corner of the Tri-City net to make it a 4-2 game. 

The Storm perhaps received momentum after Tri-City's Shaun McEwen fought Lincoln's Michael Sandruck 8:56 into the 3rd. The Storm cut Lincoln's lead less than a minute later on a Dallas Vieau rush tally. Vieau, who scored his second of the season, retrieved the puck from Paul Bloomer and took it to the top of the right wing circle in the Lincoln zone. The Penn State commit ripped a shot top corner in the Lincoln cage, making it 4-3.

Despite pulling Roest with around two minutes left, the Storm could not find an equalizer in the game's final moments. Tri-City's Ilia Morozov did shoot a puck from the left point that hit the crossbar of the Lincoln net with three seconds remaining, leaving the Storm inches from tying the game. 

Lincoln goaltender William Prowse put together a solid performance, halting 32 of 35 shots to grab his third victory of the season. 

Up next: Tri-City will host Omaha on Friday at 7:05 pm CT and Dubuque on Saturday at 6:05 pm CT next weekend inside the Viaero Center. Tickets for both games can be purchased at stormhockey.com, via phone at 308-338-8144, or in-person at the Viaero Center box office. The Storm close out next weekend with a road matchup at Omaha on Sunday. Puckdrop at Liberty First Credit Union Arena is scheduled for 4:05 pm CT.