Friday's box score
KEARNEY, Neb. – Easton Pace's early third period game-winning goal and Erick Roest's critically strong performance in net helped the Tri-City Storm beat the Lincoln Stars 3-2 on Friday night at Viaero Center.
Tri-City (15-13-3, 33 pts) has won six of its last nine games. Lincoln (19-11-0, 38 pts) snapped a three-game winning streak.
The Storm reached the halfway mark of the regular season after Friday's contest. Tri-City has played 31 games. The Storm have 31 remaining.
The Stars were first to score on Friday. Aiden Janz collected his second goal of the season at the 4:30 mark of the opening frame. As Lincoln moved up the sheet from their own zone, Janz snatched a loose puck on the right wing near the Storm blue line. The Northville, Michigan native motored to the right wing circle of the Tri-City zone and fired a snapshot past Roest just inside the right post of the Storm net.
Tri-City answered nearly ten minutes later. The Storm put together a strong forecheck while Lincoln's Etienne Lessard possessed the puck behind his own cage. As Lessard moved to the left side of the Stars' net, Tri-City's Lincoln Hjelm immediately swooped in, swiping the puck. Hjelm quickly fed Ashton Dahms in the right wing circle of the Stars' zone. The Minnesota Duluth commit snapped a rapid shot past Lincoln goaltender Yan Shostak for his seventh tally of the season. Dahms has now put up three goals in his last two games.
Tri-City grabbed its first lead 18 seconds into the middle frame. Carmelo Crandell held the puck in the left wing corner of the Lincoln zone. The Arizona State commit fed Cam Briere, who was open near the left faceoff dot. Briere turned toward the Stars net and flipped a snapshot past Shostak for his second goal in as many games.
Lincoln re-tied the contest about seven minutes later on a Gio Digiulian tally. Roest stopped an initial Degiulian shot from the Storm slot. The puck ricocheted to Alex Pelletier on the right side of Tri-City's crease. Pelletier quickly returned the puck to Digiulian near the left post of the Storm net. With Roest out of position, Digiulian banked the puck into the back of the Tri-City cage.
Tri-City grabbed its game-winning tally just over two minutes into the third. As Lincoln looked to exit its zone, Paul Bloomer intercepted an errant pass in the Stars' slot. The Chicago, Illinois native got the puck to Pace, who was halfway between Bloomer and the net. Pace swiftly collected the puck, then ripped a shot past Shostak. It was the Colorado College commit's first career USHL goal.
Despite two Lincoln power plays in the second half of the third period, Tri-City protected its lead the remainder of the night. One Stars man advantage began with 1:37 left in regulation after Tri-City's Ashton Dahms collected a holding minor. The Stars pulled Shostak, taking a 6-on-4 advantage. Lincoln produced several good opportunities in the last moments of regulation but failed to cash in.
Roest, who made his first start since December 7, halted 25 of 27 Lincoln shots to collect his seventh win of the season. The Cornell commit picked up his first victory since November 15 at Waterloo.
Tri-City and Lincoln will not rematch until April 11 and April 12, the final weekend of the regular season.
Up next: Tri-City hosts Omaha tomorrow at Viaero Center. Puckdrop is slated for 6:05 pm CT.
Nebraska Lottery Rivalry Packs are still available for Saturday night's game. Get four tickets, four hot dogs, four cans of soda, and ten Nebraska Lottery Scratch off tickets for only $44. Availability is limited.
To purchase tickets or the Nebraska Lottery Rivalry Pack, visit stormhockey.com, call the Storm at 308-338-8144, or stop by the Viaero Center box office in-person.
