Force sweep, win game 3-1

The Fargo Force were able to sweep the Sioux Falls Stampede at the Urban Plains Center tonight.  Ryan Massa was the big factor in the game posting 32 saves on 33 shots in the win.  Massa showed that he is able to rebound from his struggles as he was pulled after giving up 4 goals in last night's game and getting pulled in the 2nd period, to allowing only one goal in his last four periods since being pulled.  That's exactly how you are going to need your goaltender to be in the playoffs.  Goalies need to have a short memory when it comes to goals against and I think Massa just proved he can do that.

Nick Oliver started the scoring off for the Force in the second period on the power play on a nice tic-tac-toe play from Eamonn McDermott to Corey Leivermann to Nick Oliver who buried it to make it 1-0.  Garrett Allen extended the Force lead with a spin-o-rama backhander on a nice feed from Matt Leitner.  Matt Bailey would put the Herd on the board on a shot over Massa's glove to cut the Force lead in half.

Chase Grant would finish the game off with an empty netter to make it a 3-1 final with the Force sweeping the series 3-0 and giving the Force a 9-0 all-time record in the West Division playoffs.  The Force will now take on the Omaha Lancers in the West Division championship for a chance to get into the Clark Cup finals.

Ryan Massa weathers the Storm

Ryan Massa weathered the Storm (pun intended) as the Force beat the Tri-City Storm 5-2 in Kearney, NE tonight.  The Force were outshot 46-26 in the game but got strong goaltending from Ryan Massa and capitalized on some key opportunities in the first and second periods on pace for a victory over the Storm of Tri-City.

In the first period, Oleg Yevenko opened the scoring on a slap shot that found the back of the net 5:16 into the game.  JP Burkemper and Nate Schmidt assisted on the goal.  Less than two minutes later the Force would get an awkward bounce on a shot from Garrett Allen from behind the net that went off Tri-City goalie Carsen Chubak's skate and found the net (Matt Leitner got an assist on the play).  For the third Force goal, Nate Schmidt was able to get a breakaway opportunity coming out of the box after serving a hooking penalty.  Schmidt would capitalize on that opportunity scoring on Chubak and extending the Force lead to 3-0 (Nate Condon with the assist).  Tri-City answered on the power play 18 seconds later with a goal from Kenny Brooks to make it 3-1.  Corey Leivermann would cap off the scoring in the first period on a feed from Chase Grant and Brian Cooper.  The Force took the lead going into the 3rd up 4-1.

The Force would score their second shorthanded goal of the game on a 2 on 1 opportunity between Matt Leitner and Johnnie Searfoss.  Johnnie Searfoss buried the goal assisted by Matt Leitner and Marek Hrbas.

Tri-City would net the only goal in the third period and the Force capped off their weekend with a 5-2 win over the Storm.  Ryan Massa was stellar in net stopping 44 shots for the Force.  Carsen Chubak stopped 21/26 shots for Tri-City.

US College Hockey Report on Garrett Allen

Here is the commitment article written on Garrett Allen from the US College Hockey Report.  You heard it here first!


Good Bloodlines!

5'11", 170 lb. Fargo Force (USHL) forward Garrett Allen has committed to the University of Denver for the fall of '11.


Allen, a 3/7/92 birthdate from the Milwaukee suburb of Delafield, Wisc., played for the Milwaukee Junior Admirals midget minor squad in '07-08, then moved on to Team Illinois last year, and Fargo this season.

In 38 games to date, Allen has a 15-13-28 line, which is not bad for a first-year player in the USHL.  He's a speedster who can make plays and finish, and is also a strong penalty killer.  He's always been a little thin and physically undeveloped, but he'll have another season in the USHL to fill out before arriving in Denver.

In addition to Denver, the schools recruiting him were UNH, Wisconsin, and UNO.

Allen has good athletic bloodlines.  One of his cousins is Scott Polaski, a forward at Colorado College from '01-'05.  His aunt is former speedskater Bonnie Blair, who appeared in four Olympics, winning five gold medals.

Garrett Allen commits to Denver

From a reliable source I have learned that Garrett Allen has given a verbal commitment to the Denver University. Congrats to Garrett!

Garrett Allen is in his first season with the Fargo Force and the USHL.  He has 15 goals, 13 assists and 28 points in 38 games with Fargo.

Force win 5-3 in Chicago

The Force made sure that an early Chicago goal wasn't going to haunt them like it did in their last two games after losing to Sioux Falls 5-0 and Green Bay 5-2 after they scored early goals on their way to defeating the Force.  This game had a similar beginning but a different result as the Force were able to overcome an early deficit to defeat the Steel 5-3.

Ryan Massa proved tonight that he is able to rebound from bad games just fine after getting pulled following the 1st period Friday night upon giving up 3 goals on 15 shots.  The Force netminder turned away 37 out of 40 Chicago Steel shots en route to the victory.

Colten St. Clair started the scoring for the Force early in the first period to tie the game at 1-1.  Fargo pulled ahead 2-1 on a goal by Fargo's scoring leader, Matt Leitner.  Leitner was assisted by Force captain Chase Grant on the play.  Chicago was able to tie it 2-2 to end the period knotted up.

Nate Condon made it 3-2 with his 12th goal in 13 games.  The newest addition to the Force blue line, Marek Hrbas assisted along with Corey Leivermann.  Chicago proved to be resilient as they would tie it once again to end the 2nd period 3-3.

Garrett Allen scored 31 seconds into the 3rd period with Condon picking up his 2nd point of the night on an assist.  Former Grafton-Park River Spoiler, Chad Demers would also add an assist on the eventual game winning goal.  Luke Sandler was able to provide the Force with some insurance on his 1st career USHL goal with an assist going to Joe Rehkamp.

Fargo is back in action Wednesday, December 16 against Des Moines at the Urban Plains Center.

Fargo Force take on Chicago Steel tonight

The Fargo Force will look to rebound tonight at 7:30pm in Chicago as they take on the Chicago Steel.  Fargo lost last night 5-2 to the top team in the East, the Green Bay Gamblers.  Fargo will look to get it going a little quicker tonight as they found themselves in a early hole last night that they were never able to get out of. 

Last night, Dayn Belfour saw his first action as a Force goaltender after Ryan Massa struggled in the 1st.  Belfour stopped 16/18 in two periods in relief of Massa.  Colorado Avalanche prospect Nate Condon continued to put the puck in the net as he netted his 11th goal in 12 games for the Force.  Garrett Allen also scored for the Force with assists going to Colten St. Clair and Nate Schmidt.

Tonight the Force take on a struggling team in Chicago.  The Steel have lost their last four games after losing to Sioux City last night 3-2 in OT.  Fargo will hope to kick its two game losing streak and begin a new winning streak after their 6 game winning streak was halted on Wednesday against the Sioux Falls Stampede.

Be sure to check out all of the action on the B2 Network.

Fargo Force sweep Team USA

The Fargo Force swept Team USA over the weekend in a pair of 6-3 wins in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

On Saturday, the Force were led by Garrett Allen, who netted his first USHL hat trick, Matt Leitner, 1 goal, 2 assists and Nate Schmidt, 1 goal, 2 assists.  Cole Gunner also scored for the Force.  Nate Condon, Chad Demers, Grant Scott and Chase Grant eached picked up an assist.

On Sunday, Nate Condon, Johnnie Searfoss and Alex Lippincott each scored a goal and picked up an assist.  Gavin Hartzog picked up two assists.  Colten St. Clair, Oleg Yevenko and Joe Rehkamp each netted goals for Fargo.  Others picking up assists included: Corey Leivermann, Cole Gunner, Grant Scott and Blake Doerring. 

Ryan Holfeld picked up two wins in the sweep over Team USA, stopping 47 of 53 shots in the two games.

Force are back in action this weekend, Friday and Saturday, against the Tri-City Storm.  Enjoy some hockey games the day after Thanksgiving and then Saturday night is the 2nd annual Teddy Bear Toss night. 

Force lose heartbreaker in Des Moines

Fargo Force fans can have a new favorite player to hate.  Connor Brickley scored three goals and added two assists for a 5 point night downing the Force 6-4.

Fargo started slow and Des Moines led on a first period goal by Connor Brickley.  HT Lenz extended that lead and put Fargo down 2-0 early in the second period.  Fargo proved in the game before against Indiana that they are able to come back on a team and they did it again tonight in Des Moines.  Fargo got goals from Nate Condon (shorthanded) and Corey Leivermann to even the game up in the second period 2-2.  Yasin Cisse would regain the lead for the Bucs before heading to the locker room for the second intermission.

The third period is where things got a little more interesting.  Des Moines extended their lead early in the period to 4-2 and it looked like that would be enough for Des Moines to take the game with Eric Mihalik standing on his head in the Bucs' net.  Fargo proved to be resilient though, once again.  Fargo got goals by Garrett Allen and Matt Leitner, both assisted by Eamonn McDermott to tie the game up late in the third period, 4-4.  Connor Brickley stunned the Force and pumped the 1,954 Bucs fans up by scoring with only 15 seconds remaining in the period.  Brickley would seal the deal with the hat trick (empty net) goal 4 seconds later to end the game 6-4.

Cody Campbell stopped 23 of 28 for the Force.  Mihalik stopped 31 of 35 for the Bucs.

If there are any positives to take from the past few games, it would have to be the character the Force have shown by being resilient and not giving up when they are down.  They have come back from deficits late in games a few times this year, including the last two games.  Unfortunately Fargo was unable to come out with a victory on this night, but at least we have a "never give up" attitude that could go a long way as the season progresses.

Force squeak by Buccaneers

The Fargo Force were able to hold off the Bucs in USHL action tonight as they defeated Des Moines 3-2.  The Force were up 3-0 going into the third period, but Des Moines had a rally in the third off two goals by HT Lenz.  Fargo was led by Garrett Allen (1g, 1a), Matt Leitner (2a) and Johnnie Searfoss (1g, 1a) with two points a piece.  Johnnie Searfoss got the eventual game winner in the second period with assists from Leitner and Allen.  Also scoring for the Force in the first period was Chase Grant, unassisted.  Cody Campbell stopped 18 Des Moines shots.

Force fall to Stampede 3-2

The Sioux Falls Stampede came from behind in the 3rd period and got a late goal from Matt Lindblad to down the Force 3-2 in Sioux Falls.

Chad Demers picked up two points in his return to the Force lineup but it was not enough to hold off the Stampede as Sioux Falls picked up two third period goals including one with 2:51 remaining in the game to down the Force in Saturday night's action.

The Stampede were led by Anthony Day with two goals and Dominic Zombo with two assists.  Matt Lindblad got the game winner for the Stampede.

Cody Campbell got the day off for the Force.  Keegan Asmundson stopped 20 of 23 shots in the loss.  Goal scorers for the Force were Alex Lippincott on the power play and Garrett Allen even strength.  Chad Demers picked up two assists and Nate Schmidt also added one.

Fargo will hope to get revenge at home in their next game on the schedule, October 9 at the UP Center.  October 9 is College Night at the UP Center.  College students will be able to get a reserved seat ticket for only $5 with ID.