Stampede Leave Youngstown With Weekend Sweep

YOUNGSTOWN, OH -- As the old song goes, “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad” and the Sioux Falls Stampede did just that on their longest road trip of the season.

Two third period goals and solid goaltending by David Jacobson led the Stampede to a 3-1 victory and a weekend sweep over the Youngstown Phantoms Saturday night at the Covelli Center. The win improved the Stampede’s record to 9-4-1 on the year and 6-0-0 all-time against Youngstown.

Joe Schuldt, Griffen Molino and Keith Burchett all scored goals in the win while Jacobson stopped 29 shots in goal for the Herd who are 8-2-1 on the road.  The Herd outscored the Phantoms 9-2 on the weekend and have now won three of their last four games.

After a scoreless first period, the Stampede grabbed the first goal of the game when Schuldt tallied his second of the year at 9:03. Jack Stander fed R.J. Majkozak the puck on the right point and Majkozak blasted a shot that was stopped by Phantoms goaltender Colin DeAugustine, but the rebound bounced in front to Schuldt who quickly slapped the puck into the back of the net to make it a 1-0 game. It stayed that way until the 16:29 mark when the Phantoms tied the game on a goal from Josh Nenadal who wristed a shot from inside the right circle that snuck past the stick side of Jacobson. Sioux Falls outshot Youngstown 9 to 8 in the period, but the Phantoms outshot the Herd 18 to 15 through two periods.

In the third, the Stampede regained the lead just 1:16 in on Molino’s first career USHL goal. Molino brought the puck inside the right circle and snapped a shot just under the crossbar and into the upper right hand corner of the net to give the Herd a 2-1 advantage. The Herd extended that lead just over two minutes later when Burchett tallied his fourth goal of the season. Tony Calderone brought the puck down the left wing boards sending across ice to Dakota Joshua who sent the puck inside the crease where Burchett was able to jam it in to give the Herd a 3-1 advantage.

The Phantoms would get a couple power play opportunities late in the period, but the Stampede penalty kill was solid all night and Jacobson put up another impressive performance in goal, shutting down any good scoring opportunities to earn his sixth win of the year in goal.

Youngstown outshot the Stampede 30 to 24 on the night and went 0-for-5 on the power play while the Stampede were 0-for-4.

The Herd are on the road this Friday when they travel to Waterloo before finally returning to Sioux Falls Arena ice on Saturday when they host the Sioux City Musketeers at 7:05 PM.

Courtesy:  Sioux Falls Stampede