WEST ORANGE CITY, NJ -- A late flurry of shots came up just short for the Sioux Falls Stampede who fell 3-2 to the Youngstown Phantoms Saturday afternoon at Codey Arena.

Logan O’Connor led the way for the Herd with two second period goals while Shane Starrett got the start in goal for the Herd stopping 5 of 7 shots while David Jacobson came in midway through the game and turned away 14 of 15. The Stampede are now 1-1 at the USHL Atlantic Challenge with the final game coming up Sunday morning.

It was a quick turnaround for the Stampede who played less than 12 hours after their game the night before and it looked that way in the first. Youngstown took advantage scoring 5:45 in on a goal from Alfred Larsson. Three minutes later they would strike again when Kiefer Sherwood would take a pass from Josh Melnick inside the left circle and wristed it past Starrett. Things would settle down after that goal for the Herd who trailed 2-0 after one period.

In the second, Sioux Falls got on the board at 9:36 when O’Connor would score the first of two in the period. Mike Buonincontri sent a pass through the slot to O’Connor who one-timed it past Youngstown goaltender Jake Moore. It stayed that way until 15:47 of the period when the Stampede went on a 5-on-3 power play and took advantage. Right as the first penalty had expired, C.J. Franklin and Dennis Kravchenko teamed up to find O’Connor for a perfect tic-tac-toe play which was finished by O’Connor slap shot inside the left circle that zipped past Moore. That tied the game 2-2 heading into the final period with Sioux Falls outshooting Youngstown, 16-15.

The third period went back-and-forth with both teams exchanging some great scoring opportunities, but it was the Phantoms who would finally pull through with a power play goal at 9:07 from Kiefer Sherwood. Sherwood took a pass from Kyle Conner just outside the left circle before wristing a shot past the stick side of Jacobson. The Herd would pull Jacobson in the final minute of the period and the Herd created several good scoring opportunities, but as the final buzzer sounded the Herd came up just short.

The Stampede outshot the Phantoms 26-22 on the afternoon and went 1-for-6 on the power play while Youngstown went 1-for-4.

Sioux Falls will close out USHL Atlantic Challenge Play Sunday morning when they face the Muskegon Lumberjacks at 10 AM CT.

The Stampede’s home opener is set for Friday, October 4th at the Sioux Falls Arena.

Courtesy:  Sioux Falls Stampede

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