Muskegon 5, USA Hockey NTDP 2
Box Score
The visiting Lumberjacks outshot the NTDP 38-17 and never trailed in claiming a 5-2 win in Plymouth, Mich., Friday.
Muskegon, which upped its record to 6-2-0-0 with the win, struck first on a Matvei Gridin power play goal at 7:01 of the opening period. LJ Mooney responded with a NTDP power play marker at 11:43 and after the first period, the score stood 1-1.
Easton Young got his first goal of the season at 10:58 of the second and when Filip Nordberg found the back of the net at 15:16, also with his first goal of 2023-24, the Lumberjacks held a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.
Jack Murtagh scored at 8:28 of the third for the NTDP, but a pair of empty-net tallies from Hunter Anderson and Teddy Spitznagel, sealed the win for Muskegon.
Lukas Swedin stopped 15 shots for Muskegon and now stands 3-1-0-0 on the year.
Fargo 4, Green Bay 1
Box Score
Fargo now stands 7-0-0-0 on the year after picking up a 4-1 road win at Green Bay Friday night.
The only unbeaten team remaining in the USHL, the Force took a 1-0 lead late in the first period when Michael La Starza pushed a rebound past Green Bay netminder Adam Gajan for his second goal of the season.
The Gamblers responded midway through the second period, when Blake Bechen’s sixth goal of the year knotted things up, but a Tate Taylor power play marker at 17:18 gave Fargo a 2-1 edge at the end of two.
Leo Gruba, the top-scoring defenseman in the USHL, scored his fifth goal of the year on the power play at 10:04 of the third to make it 3-1 and Harper Bentz’s empty-netter at 18:06 closed out the win for the visitors.
Anton Castro stopped 25 of 26 shots for the Force, while Gajan finished with 30 saves.
Youngstown 3, Madison 2
Box Score
Brandon Svoboda’s second goal of the year, which came at 13:50 of the second period, held up as the game-winner as Youngstown earned a 3-2 victory at Madison Friday.
The two teams traded first-period goals with Madison’s Andrew Kuzma scoring at the eight-minute mark on a power play chance and Youngstown’s Adam Pietila with an even-strength tally at 11:28.
Sam Ranallo gave the Phantoms a 2-1 lead at 11:59 of the second, but Rainers Rullers tied it a minute later. Then, 44 seconds later, Svoboda struck when he collected the puck by the goal line on the left side and curled near the dot before rifling a shot over the shoulder of Patriks Berzins.
Owen Bartoszkiewicz turned aside 28 shots for Youngstown and Berzins was credited with 26 saves for the Capitols.
Dubuque 8, Omaha 5
Box Score
Dubuque, which ranks as the top-scoring team in the USHL, continued to roll in claiming an 8-5 road win at Omaha Friday.
The host Lancers led twice in the opening period, initially when Christian Kocsis scored his first goal of the season at 1:25. Erik Pahlsson and Teddy Merrill replied for Dubuque before a pair of tallies from Drew DellaSalla gave Omaha a 3-2 edge. The goals were the first of DellaSalla’s USHL career. Juraj Pekarcik evened it for Dubuque at 14:36.
The Fighting Saints used goals from Gavin Cornforth, Pahlsson and Chase LaPinta in outscoring the Lancers 3-1 in the second frame to take control of the contest. Aleksi Kivioja replied for Omaha.
DellaSalla completed the hat trick for the Lancers early in the third period, but Dubuque pulled away on goals from Charlie Arend and LaPinta.
LaPinta finished with a five-point night on two goals and three assists as the Fighting Saints upped their record to 6-1-1-1 for 2023-24.
Tri-City 4, Sioux Falls 1
Box Score
Stellar goaltending and timely scoring proved to be the keys for Tri-City as the Storm gained a 4-1 home win over Sioux Falls.
Cameron Korpi, already a two-time USHL Goaltender of the Week this year, stopped 43 of 44 shots in the contest and now stands 7-0-0-0 with 1.42 goals against average and .949 save percentage with Friday’s victory.
Owen Beckner and Nolan Roed scored goals for Tri-City in the opening period and when August Falloon and Ryan Smith tallied in the second, the Storm held an insurmountable 4-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Chris Pelosi finally solved Korpi when he scored at 8:30 of the third period for his fifth goal of the season in closing out the offense in the game.
Tri-City now stands 7-2-0-0 for the year, while Sioux Falls is 5-2-1-0.
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Waterloo 4, Lincoln 3 shootout
Box Score
Waterloo trailed late in the third period, but used a goal scored with the goaltender on the bench for an extra attacker to tie the game before eventually claiming a home win via the shootout.
The Black Hawks owned a 1-0 lead after the first 20 minutes of action when the reigning USHL Forward of the Week Jakub Alrichter scored at the 7:46 mark.
Lincoln got on the board when Jack Pechar scored the first of his two goals at 10:40 of the second with the Stars on the power play. Waterloo led again on a Nicholas Fascia goal at 15:45 and after two periods of action, the score stood 2-1.
Pechar’s second power play goal of the game at 13:04 of the third tied it up and Lincoln forged ahead at 17:38 on a Jared Mangan tally. Then, with netminder Calvin Vachon on the bench for an extra attacker, Griffin Erdman scored at 19:27 to send the game into overtime.
Following a scoreless extra session, Waterloo outscored Lincoln 2-1 in the shootout to win the game.
The Black Hawks, who received 27 saves from Vachon in the win, are now 4-4-0-0 for the season. Lucas Massie had 31 stops for Lincoln and the Stars stand 3-3-0-1 for 2023-24.
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Des Moines 7, Cedar Rapids 2
Box Score
Looking for its first win of the year, Des Moines outshot Cedar Rapids 37-16 in skating to a 7-2 road win Friday night.
The Buccaneers got going early when Theo Kiss scored his first goal of the season 17 seconds into the contest. Lubomir Kupco scored at 7:03 to make it a 2-0 lead, but Connor Smith’s second goal of the season, which came at the 19:02 mark, cut the deficit to one and at the end of the first, the score favored Des Moines 2-1.
The lead grew to 4-1 as Des Moines received second-period goals from Davis Brozinskis and Ben Kevan. Smith’s second goal of the game, which came at the 17:47 mark, made it 4-2 Buccaneers lead after two periods of play.
Des Moines pulled away with third-period tallies from Jack Kernan, Kevan and Illya Protas.
Jonathan Reinholdt stopped 14 shots in picking up his first career win for the Buccaneers.
Des Moines stands 1-5-2-0 for the year with the win, while Cedar Rapids falls to 2-5-1-0
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