Stampede fall again in Sioux City

Sioux City, IA—The Sioux Falls Stampede battled, but came up just short in a 2-1 loss to the Muskegon Lumberjacks Friday at the USHL Fall Classic in Sioux City. The loss dropped the Herd to 1-3 in the pre-season. Ryan Siiro tallied the Herd’s only goal of the game in the second period while Jan Obernesser stopped 21 of 23 shots in goal for the Herd who play tomorrow in their final pre-season game.

The Stampede came out flying out of the gates with several quality scoring chances, but couldn’t beat Muskegon netminder Jordan Uhelski. The Lumberjacks would grab the first goal of the game midway through the first period on a powerplay goal from Ben Foster. Foster took a pass in front of the net from Rasmus Bengston and wristed the puck off the shoulder of Stampede goaltender Jan Obernesser and floated behind him into the back of the net. The Lumberjacks would go on another powerplay right after the goal, but the Stampede shut them down and the score remained 1-0 after one period with Muskegon outshooting the Herd 7-4.

The Stampede would get on the board just 4:14 into the second period on a goal from Ryan Siiro. Joe Schuldt fired a shot from the left point that was stopped by Uhelski, but Sirro was on the doorstep for the rebound and backhanded a shot into the back of the net to tie the game 1-1. It stayed that way until the 11:12 mark when Ben Storm put the Lumberjacks back out in front with a wicked wrist shot from the left circle that floated just under the glove of Obernesser to give Muskegon a 2-1 lead. Sioux Falls battled back and created some good scoring chances late in the period, but came up short and trailed 2-1 heading into the second. Muskegon outshot the Stampede 9-7 in the period.

In the third, both teams exchanged some good scoring opportunities, but both goaltenders were on top of their game and shut down the offense. The Herd put together some good scoring chances late in the game and pulled Obernesser with just over a minute together, but couldn’t get the puck to squeak past the goal line and came up short.

The Lumberjacks outshot the Stampede 23 to 20, marking the first time this pre-season the Herd have been outshot. The Herd finished the night 0-for-2 on the powerplay while Muskegon went 1-for-4. The Herd will close out USHL Fall Classic play Saturday morning at 11 AM when they face Team USA at the IBP Ice Center in Sioux City