KEARNEY, Neb. – For the second straight game the Storm fell short after scoring a tying goal in the final period. Friday night’s game with the visiting Omaha Lancers (16-3-2) had late drama but the Tri-City Storm (5-12-2) came out on the losing end of a tight game, falling 5-3 at the Viaero Event Center after Omaha’s Tyler Vesel scored the game winner with 30 seconds remaining.

Storm forwards Nick Hutchison, Christian Horn and Drew Mayer all had goals in the loss, keeping their team in the game until the final minute.

In a battle of backup goaltenders named Hayden, both Hawkey and Lavigne made timely saves for their respective teams. Omaha’s Hawkey made 26 saves and came away with his sixth victory, while the Tri-City’s Lavigne stopped 33 shots in the loss.

The Storm opened up a lead when they scored the first goal of the night 6:36 into the first period. It was the first tally of the season for Hutchison, who beat Hawkey on a shot from in between the circles after taking a pass from linemate Chase Berger. Storm forward Kyle Eastman was credited with the second assist on the goal, his third helper of the season.

But the Lancers evened the game back up with a power play goal from Steven Johnson and took a 2-1 lead late in the first frame on Jake Henderson’s second goal of the season.

Tri-City tied things back up on an early power play goal four and a half minutes into the middle period. Horn sniped a shot into the net on a power play for his fourth goal of the season. Assists on the tally went to defensemen Nolan Gluchowski and Garrett Cecere.

Omaha took the lead on a goal by Brian Williams with under three minutes remaining in the second and had a 3-2 edge heading to the third period.

In the final frame Tri-City battled back and went toe-to-toe with the USHL’s best. Neither team registered a goal until there were under five minutes remaining in regulation.

It was Mayer who found the equalizer on a broken play in front of the Lancers net with 4:52 left on the clock. It was the Troy, Mich. native’s second tally of the season and assists were given to both Ross Olsson and Ryan McMuprhy on the play.

Under two minutes later, Mayer had a chance to give his team the lead when he was awarded a penalty shot. He made a move and had room in the left side of the net but Hawkey held his ground with his right pad and kept the puck out.

The score stayed deadlocked until the final minute when Vesel scored with 30 seconds remaining on a puck that squeaked under Lavigne’s right pad and into the net. Vesel added an empty netter seconds later to close out the scoring and secure a 5-3 victory for the Lancers.

The two teams will battle again on Saturday night in Kearney. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m.

Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Steven Haydon, Joey DiBenedetto and Garrett Gamez, along with defenseman Sean Lang.…

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period
Tri-City – Nick Hutchison (Chase Berger) 6:36
Omaha – Steven Johnson (power play) (Tucker Poolman) 13:50
Omaha – Jake Henderson (Tyler Hynes) 15:05

2nd Period

Tri-City – Christian Horn (power play) (Garrett Cecere, Nolan Gluchowski) 4:30
Omaha – Brian Williams (Louie Rowe, Nash Worden) 17:54

3rd Period

Tri-City – Drew Mayer (Ross Olsson, Ryan McMurphy) 15:08
Omaha – Tyler Vesel (Matt Nelson, Gage Hough) 19:30
Omaha – Tyler Vesel (empty net) (Gage Hough) 19:54

PENALTIES

1st Period
Tri-City – Ross Olsson – (Head Contact), 2 min, 13:02
Omaha – Niklas Folin – (Interference), 2 min, 18:10

2nd Period

Omaha – Jake Randolph – (Slashing), 2 min, 4:10
Omaha – Niklas Folin – (Tripping), 2 min, 5:12

3rd Period

Tri-City – Joel L’Esperance – (Boarding), 2 min, 3:11
Tri-City – Cutler Martin – (Roughing), 2 min, 3:11
Omaha – Jake Randolph – (High Sticking), 2 min, 9:59

Power Play

Omaha – 1/3

Tri-City – 1/4

Shots

Omaha: 14, 12, 12 = Total: 38

Tri-City: 12, 6, 11 = Total: 29

Saves

Omaha – Hayden Hawkey – 26/29

Tri-City – Hayden Lavigne – 33/37