Stampede, Steel open USHL season with shootout wins

The second half of the Dicks Sporting Goods USHL Fall Classic faced off in Pittsburgh Saturday (Sept. 25) with the Muskegon Lumberjacks, Team USA and Chicago Steel from the Eastern Conference meeting up with Sioux Falls Stampede, Sioux City Musketeers and Fargo Force from the West.

Teams played opponents from the opposite division with a game each on Saturday and a wrap up on Sunday.

Parity was obvious with both the defending Clark champion Steel and Stampede both picking wins in shootout.

Stampede 3 Lumberjacks 2

Teams were even at 1-1 after 20-minutes and the Stampede moved in front 3-2 late in the third.

Ben Strinden (’02/Fargo, ND — North Dakota) notched the tying goal with his second of the contest, 4:38 from the final buzzer and after a scoreless overtime, teams went to the shootout.

Garrett Pinoniemi (’01/Mound, MN — Minnesota) scored the first Stampede goal and combined with Sam Harris (’03/Hull, MA) for a 2-0 advantage in the Shootout. Brandon Chabrier (’02/Bayville, NY — Northeastern) fired the other two Stampede goals and Isak Posch (’02/Umea, Sweden).

Tyler Hotson (’03/Stratford, ON) scored the other Lumberjacks goal.

Steel 3 Force 2

Adam Fantilli (’04/Nobleton, ON) opened the scoring for the Steel with 6:22 to play in the second period but after goals by Tanner Walos (’05/Hartland, WI) and Andre Gasseau (’03/Los Angeles, CA — Boston College) three minutes apart for the Force, the Steel needed one from Jack Harvey (’03/Stacy, MN — Boston U) 36 seconds from the final buzzer to send it to overtime.

After a scoreless overtime segment, Harvey and Sam Lipken (’03/Lafayette Hill, PA — Quinnipiac) scored in the shootout for the Steel with Gasseau notched the lone Force goal.

Gibson Homer (’03/Grand Rapids, MI) was on the bench when Harvey fired the tying goal for the Steel, but returned to collect the win in goal with a 25-save effort.

Team USA 4 Musketeers 2

Ben Steeves (’02/Bedford, NH — Minnesota-Duluth) put the Musketeers on the board first with the lone goal of the first period and Dylan James (’03/Calgary, AB) added another in the opening minute of the third to tie the game at 2-2.

That set the stage for Cole Spicer (’04 /Grand Forks, ND — North Dakota) who fired the game winner in the period’s fifth minute. Cutter Gauthier (’04/Scottsdale, AZ — Boston College); Frank Nazar III (’04/Mount Clemens, MI — Michigan) and Seamus Casey (’04/Fort Meyers, FL — Michigan) scored the other Team USA goals.

Dylan Silverstein (’04/Calabasas, CA) picked up the win in goal with 27 saves for Team USA and Alex Tracy (’01/Chicago, IL) kicked out 36 in goal for the Musketeers