Providence Star Soars to Major Success in Northern Plains Championships!
SIOUX FALLS, S. D. (STAMPEDE) — The Sioux Falls Stampede extended their lead atop the Western Conference to seven points with a 7-3 win against the Fargo Force.
In just their second win against the Force this season, Brent Solomon and Thomas Zocco both had three-point nights with two goals and one assist each. JJ Monteiro led the team with four assists on the night. Once again, Linards Feldbergs had an impressive performance with 32 saves.
The Stampede came out ready to establish themselves as the leaders in the Western Conference. Forward Cooper Soller went on a breakaway that started from his own blue line just two minutes into the game. However, the one-goal lead quickly disappeared when the Fargo Force scored just thirty seconds later.
Both teams settled into a back-and-forth rhythm until the eight-and-a-half-minute mark, when Fargo’s Garrett Lindberg netted his team’s second goal of the night. The goal put the Stampede, who had the initial lead, down by one. At 9:51, they were called for too many men on the ice, the first penalty of the game.
The Herd killed off the penalty, and less than a minute after it expired, they found themselves on an odd-man rush. JJ Monteiro carried the puck into the zone and, before getting knocked to the ice, passed it to Thomas Zocco in the high slot. With a snipe from the slot, Zocco evened the game heading into the first intermission.