PAPILLION, NEBRASKA – This week was a bit of a good news bad news week for the USHL. The good news for those not supporting the Fargo Force: Ryan Massa is beatable. The bad news for everyone with an invested interest in the USHL: he’s not the second coming. Make no mistake, Massa will continue to be a solid part of the Fargo Force’ strides towards a second USHL West Division Championship. To date this season, Massa has started and played in three games; accumulated three wins allowed six goals, recorded one shutout and faced 80 shots. The Littleton, Colorado native is 19 years old and has to commit to a University for the upcoming school year.
West Division Standings: Omaha, 36 pts (18-4-0) Sioux Falls, 27 pts (11-3-5) Fargo, 26 pts (13-7-0) Tri-City, 21 pts (8-8-5) Sioux City, 19 pts (9-10-1) Des Moines, 19 pts (9-12-1) Lincoln, 16 pts (8-13-0)
December 3, 2009 Sioux Falls, South Dakota – Antti Roppo of Indiana and Brent Darnell of Sioux Falls each scored twice for their respective teams. Despite Roppo’s two goals he would still finish the evening minus-four in a game that featured one shorthanded goal and five power play goals.
December 4, 2009 Cedar Rapids 6, Sioux Falls 4 Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Troy Grosenick stopped 23 shots as the RoughRiders slowly turned up the heat against the Stampede. The RoughRiders scored once in the first period, twice in the second and three times in the third period to overcome Sioux Falls for the win.
Omaha 3, Team USA 2 Omaha, Nebraska – The Lancers won their 18th game of the season behind Jeff Tegila’s 22 saves. Led by USHL super stars Matt White and C.J. Ludwig, the Lancers have slowed a bit over the last couple of weeks, yet still keep finding ways to win.
Tri-City 6, Lincoln 2 Lincoln, Nebraska – Matt Green allowed five goals on 30 shots for the struggling Stars as Tri-City had four players record two-point games. Carsen Chubak stopped 29 of 31 shots for his seventh win of the season.
Des Moines 5, Indiana 1 Des Moines, Iowa – The Buccaneers scored once against the second ranked Ice penalty kill and improved their own kill percentage to 83.64 as they kept Indiana out of the net on four power plays. Chris Stafne and Yasin Cisse each had three points and H.T. Yens scored twice for the Bucs.
Fargo 3, Sioux City 1 Fargo, North Dakota – Ryan Massa received his second win of the season stopping 24 of 25 shots. The Littleton, Colorado native now has a goals against average of 0.50 in two starts as he has stymied his opponents thus far. Nate Schmidt led the Force in the offensive zone recording two points for Fargo.
December 5, 2009 Team USA 3, Tri-City 2 Kearney, Nebraska – Bill Arnold, Bryan Rust, and Mathew Nieto led Team USA’s offensive attack with two points apiece. Andy Iles stopped 20 of 22 shots for his second win of the season giving Team USA their first road win this season.
Indiana 4, Omaha 2 Omaha, Nebraska – The Ice held Omaha’s star power in check keeping C.J. Ludwig and Erik Haula off the scores sheet only allowing them to place a total of three shots on net all night. The Ice were led by Cab Morris’ 20 saves and two point nights from; Max Cook, Billy Fitzgerald, Justin Agosta, and Kevin Goumas.
Fargo 6, Sioux City 5 Fargo, North Dakota – Ryan Massa gave up five points in his third winning effort of the season elevating his goals against average to 2.00. Fargo was led by Johnnie Seafross, Colten St. Clair, and Eamonn McDermott who all recorded two points on the evening.
Cedar Rapids 8, Des Moines 2 Des Moines, Iowa – Zach Lehrke and Peter Sakaris led Cedar Rapids with two points apiece, aiding Troy Grosenick who stopped 26 of 28 shots for his ninth win this season. With the victory over Des Moines, the Rough Riders are now 11-9-2, placing them in third place in the East Division.
Upcoming Weeks Schedule: December 9, 2009 Sioux Falls at Fargo December 11, 2009 Fargo at Green Bay Cedar Rapids at Sioux Falls Omaha at Tri-City Des Moines at Waterloo Sioux City at Chicago Lincoln at Indiana
December 12, 2009 Des Moines at Tri-City Sioux City at Green Bay Sioux Falls at Omaha Fargo at Chicago Lincoln at Indiana
USHL Weekly Honors (from the League) Offensive Player of the Week: Reed Seckel, Green Bay Gamblers Defensive Player of the Week: Jared Beers, Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Goalie of the Week: Carsen Chubak, Tri-City Storm
You may contact the author at: john.strathman@prohockeynews.com
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