Fargo continues hot play

LINCOLN, NE. – The first round provided little excitement for either of the West Division finalists. The Fargo Force made easy work of the Omaha Lancers in the opening series of the USHL playoffs. The Force eliminated the Lancers in three games, two of which were played on the road in Omaha. While Fargo had no problems with the Omaha Lancers, Lincoln had only a little more trouble with the Sioux Falls Stampede. While Sioux Falls managed to win one game, Lincoln held the Stampede to less than two goals throughout their first round playoff series. The Fargo Force opened up the second round on the road as the host Lincoln Stars maintained the home ice advantage throughout the West Divisional playoffs. Fargo is one of the youngest teams in the USHL, and prior to the Omaha series did not have a single player with USHL playoff experience. For Lincoln, taking the opening game would be essential to melt the gathering avalanche that has become the Fargo Force. The first period looked as though Lincoln would be carrying its home ice advantage as a sixth skater. The Force were unable to score, and at times seemed frustrated with the Stars. While Fargo would suffer a pair of minors late in the first period, they would not suffer the consequences that go with them by killing off both power plays. Lincoln jumped to an early lead in the game when Eric Meland would score at 3:22 to put Lincoln up by a score of 1-0. After the first intermission expired, the Fargo Force seemed to play with a higher level of intensity as Chase Grant would take an offsetting roughing penalty with Eric Meland at 4:18. Almost as if to say: “This is our ice now!” The Force played a very clean second period by staying out of the penalty box for the most part and by placing two tallies on the score sheet. Grant would score first at 14:24 with Andy Taranto received an assist along with Matt Leitner. It would be a mere two minutes later that the same line would be back to their old ways playing like one of the top lines in the USHL. They would add a second goal by Taranto to put Fargo up 2-1 on assists by Leitner and Grant at 16:35 of the seond period. The third period would see Fargo begin to control the tempo more and more as they began to shut down the Stars to close out the game. Lincoln would do everything they could in order to create scoring chances, but ultimately they would yield no results. At the midway point of the third period, Fargo would add a back breaking goal as Corey Leivermann scored with an assist from Steve Spinell. As the clock ticked down to the waning seconds of the game, Grant would add his second goal of the night into the Stars empty net. With Fargo’s win, the young franchise has now won it’s first four playoff games in franchise history. The win is the third road win in the USHL playoffs for the Force as they swept two games from Omaha at the Mid-America Center and have now have managed to take the first game at the IceBox. The Fargo Force now have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series as the teams get ready for Game 2 Friday night in Lincoln. You may contact the author at: john.strathman@prohockeynews.com