Saturday's box score
KEARNEY, Neb. – The Tri-City Storm punched their ticket to the 2025 Clark Cup Playoffs with a 3-1 victory over the Omaha Lancers on Saturday night at Viaero Center.
The Storm also leapt to fifth place in the Western Conference standings after Fargo's Saturday regulation loss at Youngstown.
Tri-City (27-26-4, 58 pts) clinched its seventh consecutive postseason berth. The Lancers (7-44-7, 21 pts) have dropped 19 straight road games.
The Storm were first to score and did so with 1:06 left in the opening period. In the midst of a Tri-City offensive zone possession, Bode Laylin shipped a pass to Nolan Roed in the high slot. The St. Cloud State commit walked the puck toward Omaha's net, then sniped a shot top-shelf past Lancer netminder Aiden McKenna's glove side for his team-leading 27th goal of the season.
Tri-City doubled its lead within the first two-and-a-half minutes of the second. As play transitioned out of the Storm zone, Tri-City's Cooper Simpson and Easton Pace got the puck behind Omaha defenders and created a "two-on-zero" unopposed rush toward the Lancer net. Simpson, who possessed the puck on the left wing, sent a crisp feed to Pace in front of Omaha's cage. The Chesterfield, Michigan native directed the puck around McKenna for his fifth tally of the year and first since January 18.
An early third period strike grew the Storm lead to 3-0. Shaun McEwen held the puck at the right point of the Tri-City offensive zone, then scraped a hard pass to Dylan Nolan on the back door of Omaha's net. The Colorado College commit caught the feed and immediately shoved the puck past McKenna for his first career USHL tally.
Down 3-0 with approximately four minutes left in regulation, Omaha pulled McKenna for an extra attacker. The Lancers scored once during their 6-on-5 skater advantage.
Branko Vukas sent a shot from the left point of Tri-City's zone. Storm netminder Michal Pradel made an initial pad save, but surrendered a rebound in his crease. Caden Lee swiftly jammed the loose puck around Pradel's left leg for his 11th goal of the campaign.
Pradel, who started each game of the home-and-home series, allowed just one Omaha goal in over 122 minutes of play on the weekend. The Slovakia native collected his first career USHL shutout in Tri-City's overtime win on Friday.
The Lancer loss dropped McKenna's record to 1-12-0 this season.
Up next: Tri-City hits the road for a key "three-in-three" next weekend. The Storm visit Fargo for matchups on Friday (7:05 pm CT) and Saturday (6:05 pm CT), then head to Sioux City for a Sunday showdown with the Musketeers (3:05 pm CT). Each game will be broadcast on FloHockey and Storm Radio.
