FARGO — The Fargo Force found themselves up two goals after one period against the Lincoln Stars Friday night.
Unfortunately for the home team, that lead didn't hold.
After a back-and-forth second period that saw four goals, the two sides entered the final regulation frame knotted at three.
Mason Marcellus played the role of hero for Lincoln, scoring the go-ahead goal with 9:20 remaining that ultimately gave the Stars a 4-3 victory in game two of the USHL Western Conference Finals at Scheels Arena.
The Clark Cup Playoffs best-of-five series is now tied at 1-1 and will shift to Lincoln, Neb., on Sunday night, with puck drop slated for 5:05 p.m. at the Ice Box.
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The game-winning goal was Marcellus' fourth tally of the playoffs. He beat Force goaltender Matej Marinov on a rebound in front of the net to give the Stars their first lead of the contest.
Marcellus, who is Lincoln's top-line center, is now tied for the team lead in playoff scoring with seven points in seven games.
Fargo pulled Marinov with 1:20 to play in regulation as the Force searched for the late equalizer.
With seven seconds on the clock, a holding penalty was assessed to Lincoln defenseman Antonio Fernandez, giving the Force a golden 6-on-4 chance to draw even.
Fargo was unable to win the draw clean as a rugby-like scrum formed over the puck and the Stars were content keeping it that way to run the final seconds off the clock.
Miettinen➡️Mehlenbacher➡️Silkalns
— Fargo Force (@FargoForce) May 6, 2023
Girtsy hammers home a pass from behind the next and the Force regain the lead! pic.twitter.com/OTddpXnVqp
It was a disappointing end for the Force after goals from Mac Swanson and Boris Skalos had Fargo up 2-0 after 20 minutes.
Lincoln responded in a big way, with Boston Buckberger's wrister from the right circle on the power play cutting the Stars' deficit in half just over two minutes into the middle frame.
A mere 14 seconds later, former Force player German Yavash beat Marinov on a pass out front from linemate Dashel Oliver to suddenly tie the game.
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“I thought we came out and had the start that we needed, getting up two and they come out in the second period, had a good jump and get a power-play goal and the shift after that power play was critical," Force head coach Nick Oliver said. "They score the second one 14 seconds apart.
“Those shifts after goals are really important to either stop momentum or keep your momentum going. So we didn’t manage that well and obviously it was a hockey game from there.”
Fargo would get the lead back a little more than two minutes later on Girts Sikalns' first goal of the playoffs. But Lincoln tied it again on Tanner Ludtke's shorthanded goal. It was Ludtke's fourth of the postseason.
Finals shots were 30-26 in favor of the Stars. Lincoln goaltender Cameron Whitehead made 23 saves while Marinov stopped 26.
Fargo finished 0-for-4 on the power play while Lincoln was 1-for-3 on the advantage.
The Stars second shorthanded goal of the postseason comes from @TannerLudtke and we are tied again! #FullSteamAhead🚂 pic.twitter.com/SdPsauVZGp
— x - Lincoln Stars (@LincolnStars) May 6, 2023
“Obviously, we have a certain way that we need to play to have success and we got off of those areas tonight and give Lincoln credit, I thought they were the better team tonight," Oliver said. "We’re going to look at some things and we’re going to clean up some things, but ultimately we have to flush it, just as they did from last night to tonight.”
Oliver added that he's excited for the opportunity to bounce back on Sunday in Lincoln.
"This is a fun time of year to be playing and these games are great, right?" Oliver said. "Whether you're on the right side of it or wrong side of it, they're good hockey games and the beauty of it is there is not a lot of momentum that carries over. These games reset and they put 20 minutes on the clock and start over again. We'll have that opportunity Sunday."
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.@CWhitehead39 flashed the leather for tonight's Sam's Club Save of the Game to earn his fifth win of the postseason! #FullSteamAhead🚂 pic.twitter.com/LqRmP4V35r
— x - Lincoln Stars (@LincolnStars) May 6, 2023
Lincoln 0 3 1 - 4
Fargo 2 1 0 - 3
1st Period-1, Fargo, Swanson 1 (Stender, Knuble), 3:14. 2, Fargo, Skalos 2 (Miettinen, Stender), 7:37. Penalties-Hart Lin (roughing), 4:51; Knuble Fgo (cross checking), 4:51; Russell Fgo (high sticking dbl minor), 15:25.
2nd Period-3, Lincoln, Buckberger 1 (Fernandez, Ludtke), 2:19 (PP). 4, Lincoln, Yavash 1 (Oliver, Dunbar), 2:33. 5, Fargo, Silkalns 1 (Mehlenbacher, Miettinen), 4:55. 6, Lincoln, Ludtke 4 8:26 (SH). Penalties-Turner Fgo (hooking), 1:59; Peters Lin (slashing), 6:31; Marcellus Lin (high sticking), 16:56.
3rd Period-7, Lincoln, Marcellus 4 (Grimes, Larrigan), 10:56. Penalties-Raftery Lin (hooking), 2:36; Russell Fgo (elbowing), 12:40; Peters Lin (holding), 15:06; Russell Fgo (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 15:06; Fernandez Lin (holding), 19:53.
Shots on Goal-Lincoln 10-10-10-30. Fargo 10-8-8-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Lincoln 1 / 3; Fargo 0 / 4.
Goalies-Lincoln, Whitehead (26 shots-23 saves). Fargo, Marinov (30 shots-26 saves).
A-3,426
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