The Sioux Falls Stampede continued their struggles Friday night, rallying from down two goals early to tie the score with just a little less than four minutes left in the game, only to see Emilio Pettersen break their hearts when he scored with 27 seconds left in the contest to give the Omaha Lancers the 4-3 win. The loss followed a 6-0 drubbing they took at the hands of the Fargo Force Thursday night and keeps the Stampede in last place in the Western Conference.

It was scoreless through the first 11 minutes, but two goals in the span of 39 seconds gave the Lancers the lead. Omaha had dominated the play, peppering shots on Sioux Falls goalie Jeremy Swayman and they would finally break through at the 11:03 mark. Connor Marshall passed to Jack Randl at the right circle. He one-timed the pass into the net for his second goal of the season.

Just 39-seconds later they would add to their lead. Ben Lown just outraced the Stampede defense, splitting between two defenders and then breaking in on the net where he wristed a shot over the shoulder of the Sioux Falls goalie to make it 2-0.

Omaha had totally dominated the first period, outshooting the Stampede 12-3. Sioux Falls came out of the first break a little more motivated, and that finally paid off when they were able to get on the scoreboard at the 7:05 mark. Lean Bergmann carried the puck into the Lancers end, leading a 3-on-1 break. He dropped the puck back to Max Johnson after entering the zone, who fired a blast past Peter Thome to make the score 2-1. It was Johnson’s third goal of the season.

Omaha responded just 37-seconds later. Randl fired a blast from the point that found a whole through a lot of traffic and into the Stampede’s net. That made the score 3-1.

It looked like the Lancers may go into the second break with a two-goal lead, but the Stampede would get one more goal with 79-seconds left in the period. With the face-off in the Omaha end, Jack Doremus won the draw, pulling it back to Josh Passolt who drove to the net. Passolt pushed his way past a defender before wristing a shot into the net for his fourth goal of the season.

The Stampede had been outplayed for much of this game, but they were right back in it. A little more than 16 minutes into the third they would tie the score. Jaxon Nelson carried the puck down the boards and fired a shot that Thome saved. The rebound bounced out Doremus, who blasted it back into the net for his eighth goal of the season and the game was tied.

It looked like this contest was headed to overtime, but Pettersen would crush the Stampede’s hopes. Mitch Perrault passed to Pettersen at the left face-off circle. He redirected the pass just under the pads of Swayman and into the net to give the Omaha Lancers the lead at 4-3, and they would go on to win.

It was a second straight night of disappointment, but now the team gets a long break, not playing their next contest until the night before Thanksgiving. That will be November 23 against the Fargo Force. Face-off is 7:05.

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier