Force drop final game of Fall Classic

The Fargo Force put up 61 penalty minutes and 15 shots on net on their way to a 5-3 loss to the Green Bay Gamblers.

Many people questioned who would step up and be the guy who would be able to drop the gloves for the Force in their second season with the absence of Luke Witkowski. The Force answered that question with four fights against the Green Bay Gamblers. The four fights were not able to give the Force the momentum they were looking for as the Green Bay Gamblers pulled away with three goals in the second period to beat the Fargo Force.

Colten St. Clair proved that he was not only able to score goals, but drop the gloves as well as he was the first to take on Matt Stewart with 5:48 remaining in the first period. Grant Scott, Kodie Curran and Nick Romanick also provided the early morning wake up calls for the Force, all fighting in the loss. Eamonn McDermott was ejected from the game with a cross checking penalty in the second period. Despite putting up 61 minutes in penalties, the Force only gave up one powerplay goal on 8 chances.

Joe Rehkamp, Chad Demers (powerplay) and Gavin Hartzog scored for the Force. Luke Sandler, Chris Stafne and Roman Graberenko each picked up an assist.

Martin Janzons stopped 8 of 10 and Keegan Asmundson stopped 13 of 16 for the Force. Cody Campbell got the day off.

Force Push Preseason Record to 2-2

The Fargo Force defeated the Indiana Ice in a rematch of last season's Clark Cup Finals. The Force scored three second period goals to down the Ice. Top scorers for the Force were Colten St. Clair (1g, 2a) and Corey Leivermann (1g, 2a). Fargo was 3-6 on the power play and outshot the Ice 31-24 in the win. This is the second straight game the Force outshot their opponent after being outshot in their first two preseason games against the Sioux Falls Stampede.

The Force were down early after Anthony Bitetto buried one 4:40 into the game to make it 1-0. Nick Romanick answered three minutes later with the first of three powerplay goals for the Force to make it 1-1, assists went to Leivermann and St. Clair.

The second period proved to be the strongest period of the night for the Force scoring three and giving up zero. The first of the three second period goals was also scored on the powerplay by Leivermann with an assist to St. Clair. Nate Schmidt scored the third powerplay goal two minutes later with assists going to Cole Gunner and Kodie Curran to make it 3-1. Colten St. Clair then got his third point of the night scoring a goal with assists to Chase Grant and Leivermann.

Chris Stafne started the the third period quickly with a goal 34 seconds into the period and that would finalize the scoring for the Force on the night. Stafne was assisted on the goal by Gavin Hartzog and Gunner. The Force survived a late third period rally, as the Ice scored two goals in the final 3:06 of the game to make it 5-3.

The Force used their third goaltender of the preseason in the win. Martin Janzons saved 6 of 8 shots in the win for the Force. Cody Campbell was solid once again stopping 15 out of the 16 shots he faced.