Fargo, N.D. – The Sioux Falls Stampede dropped their second straight game after a hard-fought battle against the Fargo Force on Friday night.
Brent Solomon opened the scoring for Sioux Falls, while Alexej Kubat netted his first career USHL goal.
Fargo took an early penalty in the opening period, giving the Herd a chance to capitalize on the power play, but the opportunity came up empty. The Stampede earned another power play shortly after when Luke McNamara was called for his second penalty of the night. At 10:00, Sioux Falls broke through with a tip-in goal from
Brent Solomon, assisted by
Joey Macrina and
Logan Renkowski.
The Force answered back later in the period. Following a
Matthew Grimes interference penalty, Fargo converted on the ensuing power play at 17:00 with a goal from Axel Lofgren. Just 44 seconds later, the Force found the back of the net again to take a 2–1 lead heading into the first intermission. Shots on goal were even at 12 apiece after the first period.
The Stampede entered the second looking to erase the one-goal deficit. However,
Joe McGraw was sent to the box for tripping early in the period, and Fargo capitalized again on the power play at 3:06 to make it 3–1. Tempers flared midway through when
Dane Sorensen and Luke McNamara dropped the gloves, both receiving five minutes for fighting and an additional 10-minute misconduct.
Sioux Falls went back on the power play after Fargo was called for interference, but couldn't convert. At 9:01, Alexej Kubat scored his first career USHL goal, firing a shot through the slot over the glove side of Fargo's Ajay White to make it 3–2. The Herd had another man-advantage later in the period but were again unable to find the equalizer. Both teams tallied 10 shots on goal in the second.
The Stampede started the third period still trailing by one. Just 37 seconds in,
JJ Monteiro appeared to tie the game with a shot from the high slot, but the goal was waved off due to goaltender interference by
Joe McGraw. Sioux Falls had one final power play opportunity at 6:28 but couldn't capitalize. The remainder of the period saw few scoring chances, and Monteiro took a late cross-checking penalty at 19:52 to close out the game. The Herd outshot the Force 14–10 in the third but couldn't find the back of the net.
Goaltender
Linards Feldbergs made 29 saves and moved to 6-3-1-0 on the season. He continues to hold a .910 save percentage and now carries a 2.28 goals-against average.
The Stampede return to Fargo tomorrow night for a rematch with the Force. Next week, they'll continue their road trip in Youngstown for a back-to-back series against the Phantoms before returning to the PREMIER Center on November 26 for the team's first annual Corgi Race Night.
