SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—The Sioux Falls Stampede Hockey Club fell to the Fargo Force during a Saturday evening matchup at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. A tough battle for the win from both teams led to the Herd falling in a heartbreaking 5-4 loss.

A high-scoring first period set the duo up for an eventful game with each team scoring three goals in the first 20 minutes of play. The Herd were the first on the board with Adam Zlnka tabbing his seventh goal of the year off assists from Alex Rybakov and Jaksen Panzer. Panzer was then able to mark his own goal, his second of the weekend, with the help of Will McDonough and Isaac Gordon. The Force were able to answer back on a powerplay around the ten-minute mark. McDonough and Panzer then switched places when McDonough marked his own goal with an assist to Panzer and Gordon. Not long after McDonough's goal, Zam Plante scored his second goal of the night for the Force followed by one from Cole Knuble to close out the period.

The second period did not see as much action on the scoreboard, but two goals from Fargo were enough to put them up by two goals for three quarters of the period. Maddox Fleming was able to aid the Stampede's chances with his 11^th goal of the season off an assist from JJ Wiebusch, making the score 5-4 in favor of Fargo.

Both teams were stagnant for a majority of the third period, with no goals and limited shots on goal. The Herd was unable to find an opportunity for a game-tying goal with an extra attacker after pulling Xavier Medina with just under two minutes to play. As the Herd was picking up speed with the extra man, Will McDonough found himself called for slashing with 17 seconds left in the game, taking away the advantage opportunity.

Medina marked 27 saves on 32 shots in his 29^th game this season. He marked a .844 save percentage and moved to 11-15-3 this season. Medina has now marked 827 saves with 85 goals against and a .907 save percentage across all 29 games he has played in.

The Herd now travels to Sioux City, Iowa for a Sunday afternoon matchup against the Musketeers on March 12 at 3:05 p.m. The team then has a solo game against the Omaha Lancers, in Omaha, Neb., on March 17 with the remainder of the weekend off. The next time the Herd will be in Sioux Falls will be for two games on Mar. 25 and 26. They take on the Des Moines Buccaneers on the 25^th and Omaha Lancers on the 26^th.