Fargo, ND – The Fargo Force secured the franchise's first ever Anderson Cup Friday night with their 7-1 win over the Sioux Falls Stampede. The Anderson Cup is awarded to the United States Hockey League's regular season champion. The win advanced Fargo to 39-14-4-4 and 86 points while also breaking the franchise record for wins in a season, set back in the 2012-13 season. They also added to their single season point record, which they broke on April 14 versus Lincoln. Adding to the good news, Tanner Walos and Joe Palodichuk returned to the Force lineup, playing in their first games in over a month. Matej Marinov backstopped the win with 36 saves on 37 shots.
Meanwhile, the Stampede dropped to 23-30-5-3 and 54 points. Caleb Heil started the game in net for Sioux Falls, stopping 23 of 28 shots, before Xavier Medina came in relief after the fifth goal of the night turning aside 7 of 9 shots.
Fargo sustained zone pressure early in the first period, limiting Sioux Falls' chances through the first half of the frame. JP Turner took a hooking penalty for Fargo to stop Chris Pelosi's tap in attempt at 8:06. Sioux Falls put plenty of pressure on Marinov, but the Stampede couldn't cash in. Marinov again came up big, stopping a breakaway by Sioux Falls' Jaksen Panzer to keep the game scoreless. Bret Link and the Stampede's Evan Murr received offsetting roughing penalties at 13:40. This set up two minutes of 4 on 4 action, which neither team capitalized on.
However, three goals in the final three minutes, jumpstarted the Force's offense. At 17:01, Mac Swanson stretched Cole Kunble, who dished it across to Link, who put it past Heil to give the Force a 1-0 lead. A face off scrum between Taner Walls and Noah Anderson resulted in another 4 on 4. With the extra ice, Verner Miettinen put a rebound home far side to make it 2-0 at 17:42 Just as the penalties expired, Girts Silkalns' snap shot tripled Fargo's output to 3-0 at 19:02. With eight seconds remaining, Sioux Falls received a cross checking minor, allowing Fargo 1:52 of carryover power play time on their first man advantage of the night.
With their remaining power play time, the Force cycled well, and carried the intensity into the second period, but couldn't convert. Despite the seemingly back and forth hockey, defenseman Jacob Napier played goalie for a moment, blocking away a Sioux Falls shot while Marinov was at the far post. Zam Plante opened up the game to 4-0 at 14:42 on a pass from Turner. Fargo kept their foot on the gas, despite taking a too many men penalty at 18:59 giving the Stampede 59 seconds of power play time going into the third period.
The Force's penalty kill was up to the task, bottlenecking Sioux Falls to start the third. Immediately following the penalty, Swanson scored on a second chance back door shot at 1:21 enlarging the gap to 5-0. Medina relieved Heil in net following the fifth goal. Anthony Menghini added to the fun on the one timer at 4:13, stretching the score at 6-0. A Fargo penalty shot goal by Link came shortly after the Menghini marker at 4:30, increasing the margin to 7-0. A couple penalties each side resulted in 4 on 3 and 5 on 4 power plays for Sioux Falls which were turned aside by Marinov and the penalty killers. Knuble was called for hooking at 16:51 and Menghini at 17:17 for hooking. Sioux Falls' Tyler Borgula got one back at 17:26 on the 5 on 3, breaking the shutout to 7-1. Special teams came up for the rest of the penalty time to end the game.
Fargo's final regular season game takes place in Sioux Falls tomorrow night starting at 6:05pm CST, streaming on Flo Hockey and 740 The FAN.
