The Force dominated in tonight's contest taking home a 4-0 win against the Tri-City Storm, with tonight's win the Force have claimed the #1 spot in the standings in both the Western Conference and the USHL.

The hard-fought contest began with multiple solid scoring chances for the home team, testing the 2-2-0-0 Storm netminder Karlis Mezsargs. At 6:25 in the opening fram the Force earned their first man advantage of the game thanks to a boarding call against Tri- City. Just 6 seconds into the powerplay the Force cashed in thanks to a beautiful redirect from Verner Miettinen off a Mac Swanson shot from the point. Force goaltender Anton Castro shut the door, stopping all 7 shots he faced in the opening frame.

Charlie Russell, tonight's featured player of the game, scrapped against a Storm player for the Force's first fight of the year. A Storm goal that was disallowed due to goaltender interference after a lengthy review meant the Force headed to the second period up by a score of 1-0. 

True to form the Force dominated in the second period. A pretty odd-man rush play from Bret Link and Jakob Stender in the final seconds of a Tri-City powerplay ended right on the tape of second-year Force player Tanner Walos and into the back of the net, extending the Fargo lead to 2-0 at 13:08 in the middle frame.

With 3:20 remaining Finland native Verner Miettinen went 5-hole, finishing a 2-on-0 shorthanded rush with Bret Link sparked by a turnover he created in the Storm offensive zone.

The final frame was again controlled by the Force, as they added a fourth tally just 4:42 into the period. Force forward Anthony Menghini fired a wrister from the right half-wall that was redirected in by Charlie Russell beating the Storm keeper Mezsargs making it 4-0 Fargo. The Black and Blue had an impressive special teams showing in tonight's contest going 7/7 on the penalty kill and adding one shorthanded goal and one powerplay goal.

The Force continue their strong start to the 2022-23 season, now sporting a 5-1-0-1 record through seven games claiming the top spot in the league and the Western Conference. Force netminder Anton Castro was a wall in the net posting his first ever USHL shutout with 21/21 saves.

The Force are back at home next week to face the Sioux City Musketeers twice on Friday, October 28 for Pucks & Paws night followed by Halloween Night on Saturday, October 29. Get your tickets here!