Leitner lights up Lancers

"Light it up Leitner" was in full force tonight for the St. Patrick's day game between the Fargo Force and the West Division leading Omaha Lancers.  The Force were able to come back from a 3-goal deficit.  Fargo was paced by Matt Leitner with a 5-point night (2 goals, 3 assists) to extend his point streak to 7 games.

The Lancers came out quickly and scored 32 seconds into the game on a goal by Dakota Eveland.  The Lancers  were able to score another goal later in the first on a goal by Ryan Daugherty.  The Lancers took a 2-0 lead into the locker room as the buzzer sounded on the first period.

Seth Ambroz scored early in the second period on a power play to extend the Lancers' lead to 3-0.  Fargo proved once again that they are a resilient team that does not give up on any game with goals by Johnnie Searfoss and Garrett Allen (on the power play) less than two minutes apart.  Matt Leitner assisted on both goals.  Brian Cooper added an assist on the first Force goal and Nate Schmidt added an assist on the power play goal by Allen.  The second period ended with the Force down by one at 3-2.

Ryan Daugherty would get his second goal of the game on the power play for the Lancers early in the third to extend the Lancer lead to two goals at 4-2.  Leitner answered quickly with a goal 1:14 later on the power play for the Force.  Leitner's first goal of the game was assisted by Chase Grant and Nate Schmidt.  Brandon Carlson tied the game 10 minutes later with his first goal in a Force uniform.  Searfoss picked up his second point of the night as he assisted the Carlson goal and Leitner would add his fourth point of the night with his third assist.

Johnnie Searfoss, Nate Condon and Matt Leitner scored in the shootout for the Force and Ryan Massa stopped 3/5 shots in the shootout to lead the Force to the victory.  Matt Leitner was credited with his second goal of the game and fifth point of the night as he netted the game-winner for the Force.  Ryan Massa finished with 26 saves on 30 shots.  Fargo is now 5-0-2 in their last seven games.

Great win for the Force tonight as they were able to come back once again and sweep the Omaha Lancers in the regular season series.  They have had a lot of success against the top team in the West and are now only three points out of first place with a game in hand.  The Force play two more games this weekend against the Lincoln Stars and the Tri-City Storm Friday and Saturday night.