KEARNEY, NE – Jonah Aegerter's overtime winner was Friday night's only tally as the Omaha Lancers defeated the Tri-City Storm 1-0 at Viaero Center.
Omaha (5-6-1, 11 pts) snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory. Tri-City (4-5-3, 11 pts) dropped the opener to a three-game in three-day weekend.
Tri-City outshot Omaha 14-8 in the first. The Lancers received two power play chances in the opening frame after Storm penalties by Ashton Dahms and Colton Whitfield, who both collected interference minors. Tri-City had an abbreviated power play opportunity after Omaha's Gleb Semenov picked up a tripping call with 50 seconds left on Whitfield's minor.
The Storm also outshot Omaha in the second by an 11-5 margin. Despite several good looks, Tri-City could not strike on an additional power play after Omaha's Jayden Veney collected a roughing minor near the halfway mark of the frame. The Storm committed a penalty of their own with four seconds remaining in the second when Carmelo Crandell was assessed a double minor for high sticking after making contact with Omaha's Drew DellaSalla in the Tri-City offensive zone.
The Storm killed Crandell's entire double minor to begin the third period behind strong defensive zone play and numerous key saves by Adam Dybal in the Tri-City net. Despite several quality offensive chances on each side throughout the remainder of the period, neither team scored before the end of regulation.
Just over a minute into overtime, Dybal handled the puck in his own crease after a clear through center ice out of the Omaha zone. The Lancers' Zach Wooten intercepted a Dybal pass on the right wing boards. Wooten then slipped a back-door feed to Aegerter, who was positioned on the left post of the Tri-City net. Aegerter slammed a one-timer in the back of the cage to end the game. The Vermont commit tallied his third of the season on the overtime winner.
Strong goaltending played a major factor in Friday's contest. Dybal halted 23 of 24 shots in the Storm net. Omaha's Kam Hendrickson completed his second shutout of the season, stopping all 31 Tri-City shots he faced on the night.
Up next: Tri-City hosts Dubuque on Saturday at 6:05 pm CT. Tickets 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 the weekend at Omaha on Sunday. Puckdrop inside Liberty First Credit Union Arena is scheduled for 4:05 pm CT. Both games will be streamed on FloHockey and Storm Radio.
Friday's box score
