KEARNEY, Neb. – The Omaha Lancers (16-8-4) were able to hold off a late charge and defeat the Tri-City Storm (14-10-5) 2-1 in front of a crowd of 4,041 at the Viaero Event Center on Saturday night.

Storm defenseman Mattias Goransson scored the lone tally of the contest for Tri-City, while netminder Alec Dillon made 16 saves to keep his team in the game the whole way.

Omaha has now won nine consecutive games and four of their five meetings with Tri-City this season.

The Storm had lots of chances and pressure in the Lancers’ end, outshooting Omaha 31-18 on the night, but goaltender Kris Oldham let only one puck past him, and earned his fourth victory of the season over Tri-City.

All three goals came in the middle period, with the two squads holding each other off the scoreboard in both the first and third frames.

Lancers’ defenseman Jimmy Schuldt made it 1-0 Omaha with a power play strike at 5:24 of the second for his eighth goal of the season. Assists on the goal went to forwads Anthony Angello and Josh French.

Goransson earned the equalizer during a 2-on-1 with forward Chris Wilkie. Forward Dan Labosky got the second assist on the play, pushing the puck to Wilkie as he took a hit in the neutral zone.

Wilkie then moved in to the Omaha end and out-waited the lone Lancer defenseman, sliding the puck to Goransson and drawing Oldham to his side. The Swedish native hit the back of the net for his fifth goal of the year and his fourth point of the weekend.

However it only took 1:09 for the Lancers to re-take the lead, as forward Louie Rowe hit Nick Rivera in front for a one-timer that beat Dillon.

Tri-City attempted 25 shots in the final period, but just nine made their way through to Oldham.

The Lancers now have 36 total points and sit in second place in the USHL’s Western Conference, while Tri-City has 33 points which is good for third place.

The Storm will host Waterloo for a weekend series on Friday and Saturday. Friday’s game starts at 7:30, while Saturday’s contest gets underway at7:05.

Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Garrett Gamez and Kyle Eastman along with defenseman Cameron Spicer…

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

(no scoring)

2nd Period

Omaha – Jimmy Schuldt (power play) (Anthony Angello, Josh French) 5:24
Tri-City – Mattias Goransson (Chris Wilkie, Dan Labosky) 14:08
Omaha – Nick Rivera (Louie Rowe, Brian Williams) 15:17

3rd Period
(no scoring)

PENALTIES

1st Period

Tri-City – Kevin Kerr – (Tripping), 2 min, 2:32
Tri-City – Daniel Labosky – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 13:52
Omaha – Louie Rowe – (Roughing), 2 min, 13:52
Omaha – Michael Wilson – (Hooking), 2 min, 18:20

2nd Period

Tri-City – Jalen Schulz – (Interference), 2 min, 4:27
Tri-City – Dan Labosky – (Tripping), 2 min, 5:54
Omaha – Nash Worden – (Holding), 2 min, 11:19
Omaha – Nash Worden – (Roughing), 2 min, 19:22

3rd Period

Omaha – Steven Spinner – (Slashing), 2 min, 5:46
Tri-City – Jalen Schulz – (Holding), 2 min, 9:18
Omaha – Jimmy Schuldt – (Slashing), 2 min, 11:35

Power Play

Omaha – 1/4

Tri-City – 0/5

Shots

Omaha: 3, 10, 5 = Total: 18
Tri-City: 11, 11, 9 = Total: 31

Saves
Omaha – Kris Oldham – 30/31
Tri-City – Alec Dillon – 16/18

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Tri-City Storm (14-9-5) worked their way back from a big deficit but couldn’t finish the comeback and fell to the Sioux Falls Stampede (15-12-2) by a score of 6-4 on Friday night at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.

Chris Wilkie had two power play goals for the Storm in the loss, while Bobby Nardella had a goal and an assist and Mattias Goransson had three assists of his own.

Sioux Falls took control of the game right from the start with five goals in the opening period, including three by Cooper Marody.

Kieffer Bellows bookended the scoring, finding the net just 41 seconds into the contest before sealing a Stampede victory with an empty net goal.

Sioux Falls forward Logan O’Connor also had a goal in the opening frame, in which the Stampede scored all five tallies during the first 12 minutes of play.

But Tri-City didn’t go away quietly, scoring four straight goals of their own to slowly work their way back into the game.

Wilkie got the Storm on the board with a power play strike at 16:11 of the first, assisted by Nardella and Goransson.

The Omaha native struck again with the only goal of the second period in the final minute of the frame. Also a power play goal, Wilkie got his 17th of the season from Goransson and Joel Herbert.

In the third, Cody Milan made the game 5-3 with his seventh goal of the year at 12:45. Goransson led the White Lake, Mich. native with a perfect pass into the zone and the goal breathed life into Tri-City in the final minutes.

The Storm then made it 5-4 less than two minutes later on Nardella’s fifth goal of the season. Assists were credited to both Wilkie and Chase Berger.

But the one-goal deficit was as close as the Storm could get before Bellows put the game out of reach with the empty net goal.

Stefanos Lekkas picked up the win for the Stampede in net, making 30 saves. Alec Dillon started the game for Tri-City, but was pulled in favor of Jared Rutledge after allowing two goals in the first. Rutledge finished with 19 stops.

Tri-City returns home to face Omaha in Kearney at the Viaero Event Center on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.

Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Garrett Gamez and Kyle Eastman along with defenseman Tory Dello…

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

Sioux Falls – Kieffer Bellows (Alec Marsh, Cooper Marody) 0:41
Sioux Falls – Cooper Marody (Alec Marsh, Chris Pohlkamp) 3:26
Sioux Falls – Cooper Marody (Alec Marsh) 7:15
Sioux Falls – Logan O’Connor (Troy Loggins, Dakota Joshua) 8:51
Sioux Falls – Cooper Marody (Logan O’Connor, Dillon Eichstadt) 11:29
Tri-City – Chris Wilkie (power play) (Bobby Nardella, Mattias Goransson) 16:11

2nd Period

Tri-City – Chris Wilkie (power play) (Mattias Goransson, Joel Herbert) 19:23

3rd Period
Tri-City – Cody Milan (Mattias Goransson) 12:45
Tri-City – Bobby Nardella (Chris Wilkie, Chase Berger) 14:21
Sioux Falls – Kieffer Bellows (empty net) (unassisted) 18:36

PENALTIES

1st Period

Tri-City – Chris Wilkie – (Charging), 2 min, 9:25
Sioux Falls – Nikolas Koberstein – (Fighting), 5 min, 11:43
Sioux Falls – Nikolas Koberstein – (Fighting) (Misconduct), 10 min, 11:43
Tri-City – Chase Berger – (Fighting), 5 min, 11:43
Tri-City – Chase Berger – (Fighting) (Misconduct), 10 min, 11:43
Sioux Falls – Chaz Switzer – (Elbowing), 2 min, 15:40
Sioux Falls – Dillon Eichstadt – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 19:26

2nd Period

Tri-City – Gordi Myer – (Roughing), 2 min, 8:57
Sioux Falls – Kieffer Bellows – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 13:59
Tri-City – Gordi Myer – (Roughing), 2 min, 14:05
Sioux Falls – Nikolas Koberstein – (Holding), 2 min, 14:07
Sioux Falls – Dakota Joshua – (Head Contact), 2 min, 19:14
Tri-City – Jalen Schulz – (Boarding), 2 min, 19:36

3rd Period

(no penalties)

Power Play

Tri-City – 2/4

Sioux Falls – 0/3

Shots

Tri-City: 6, 11, 17 = Total: 34
Sioux Falls: 10, 13, 4 = Total: 27

Saves
Tri-City – Alec Dillon – 2/4, Jared Rutledge – 19/22
Sioux Falls – Stefanos Lekkas – 30/34

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Tri-City Storm (14-8-5) ended the year on the short end of a 3-1 game at the hands of the Sioux Falls Stampede (14-12-2)on Wednesday night in their first ever game at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.

Chase Berger had the lone Storm goal of the game, while Tri-City netminder Jared Rutledge made 18 saves in his third start with the team.

Sioux Falls got on the board early with a goal from Kieffer Bellows at 3:50 of the opening period to take a 1-0 lead and after the first 20 minutes, controlled the game, leading Tri-City in shots on goal 10-4.

But the Storm got going in the second and tied the game on Berger’s fourth goal of the season. Tri-City forward Wade Allison picked up the only assist on the tally, which was his fourth point of the year.

Despite outshooting the Stampede 13-7 in the frame, two late goals got Sioux Falls ahead with a 3-1 lead heading to the third period.

In the final period the Storm once again had their chances, but couldn’t head Stampede netminder Stefanos Lekkas.

Lekkas finished with 27 saves on the night, including 11 in the third period, to earn his team the win.

The Storm will celebrate the beginning of 2015 in Sioux Falls, staying in town to take on the Stampede on Friday night at 7:05 p.m.

Tri-City returns home to face Omaha in Kearney at the Viaero Event Center this Saturday, also at 7:05.

Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Garrett Gamez, Conner Valesano and Kyle Eastman along with defenseman Tory Dello

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

Sioux Falls – Kieffer Bellows (Cooper Marody) 3:50

2nd Period

Tri-City – Chase Berger (Wade Allison) 3:45
Sioux Falls – Logan O’Connor (Troy Loggins, Aaron Herdt) 14:01
Sioux Falls – Dillon Eichstadt (Ryan Schwalbe, Jack Suter) 16:36

3rd Period
(no scoring)

PENALTIES

1st Period

Tri-City – Jared Rutledge – (Tripping), 2 min, 7:16
Tri-City – Chase Berger – (Tripping), 2 min, 12:28
Sioux Falls – Logan O’Connor – (Interference), 2 min, 13:02
Tri-City – Nick Master – (Tripping), 2 min, 14:19

2nd Period

Tri-City – Jake Wahlin – (Boarding), 2 min, 18:58
Sioux Falls – Cooper Marody – (Interference), 2 min, 19:49

3rd Period

Sioux Falls – Chaz Switzer – (Slashing), 2 min, 4:38
Sioux Falls – Joey Raats – (Roughing), 2 min, 17:08

Power Play

Tri-City – 0/3

Sioux Falls – 0/5

Shots

Tri-City: 4, 13, 11 = Total: 28
Sioux Falls: 10, 7, 4 = Total: 21

Saves
Tri-City – Jared Rutledge – 18/21
Sioux Falls – Stefanos Lekkas – 27/28

OMAHA, Neb. – Cody Milan scored a tying goal late in the third period to send the game to overtime, but the Tri-City Storm (14-7-5) fell to the Omaha Lancers (13-8-4) by a score of 3-2 in a shootout at the Ralston Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Bobby Nardella had the first Storm goal of the evening, before assisting on Milan’s tally in the third. Tri-City netminder Alec Dillon made 27 saves.

The Storm are still one point behind Sioux City for the top spot in the USHL’s Western Conference, while the Lancers have won six consecutive games and are sitting in third place, three points behind Tri-City.

Neither team was able to score in the first period, but Omaha took a 1-0 lead in the second on defenseman Matt Joyaux’s first goal of the season.

Later in the middle period, Storm forward Chase Berger hit Nardella with a pass that set the defenseman free on a breakaway. The blueliner converted to score his fourth goal of the season, tying the game 1-1 at 17:37 of the frame.

In the third, the Lancers retook the lead on a goal by forward Louie Rowe. With the tally, Rowe extended his point scoring streak to 11 games and made it a 2-1 contest.

Milan got the Storm even once again with his sixth goal of the year at 13:03 of the final period. The tally was set up by forward Matthew Freytag, who passed the puck from behind the Omaha net right on Milan’s blade. Nardella picked up the second assist on the tying goal.

The two teams then went to overtime for the third time in four meetings this season, but neither squad could find the winner and they headed to a shootout.

Tri-City picked Chris Wilkie, Milan and Dan Labosky to represent the team in the skills competition, but all three forwards came up empty. Omaha forward Steven Spinner netted the winner in the third round to seal the victory for the Lancers.

Both teams ended with 29 shots on goal in the game. Tri-City has recorded points in all seven games in the month of December.

The Storm will close out the 2014 calendar with a New Year’s Eve battle in Sioux City on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m.

Tri-City returns home to face the Lancers in Kearney at the Viaero Event Center this Saturday, also at 7:05.

Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Garrett Gamez and Kyle Eastman along with defenseman Tory Dello…

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

(no scoring)

2nd Period

Omaha – Matt Joyaux (Jake Henderson, Josh French) 6:45
Tri-City – Bobby Nardella (Chase Berger, Wade Allison) 17:37

3rd Period
Omaha – Louie Rowe (Brian Williams, Nick Rivera) 8:56
Tri-City – Cody Milan (Matthew Freytag, Bobby Nardella) 13:03

Overtime
(no scoring)

PENALTIES

1st Period

Tri-City – Chris Wilkie – (Roughing), 2 min, 9:22
Tri-City – Conner Valesano – (Roughing), 2 min, 12:52
Omaha – Nick Rivera – (Slashing), 2 min, 17:20

2nd Period

Omaha – Louie Rowe – (Head Contact), 2 min, 0:12
Tri-City – Chris Wilkie – (Roughing), 2 min, 13:30
Omaha – Jake Henderson – (Roughing), 2 min, 13:30

3rd Period

Tri-City – Bench Minor – (Too Many Men), 2 min, 1:50

Overtime
(no penalties)

Power Play

Tri-City – 0/2

Omaha – 0/3

Shots

Tri-City: 7, 10, 10, 2 = Total: 29
Omaha: 11, 5, 10, 3 = Total: 29

Saves
Tri-City – Alec Dillon – 27/29
Omaha – Kris Oldham – 27/29