Hockey: Oddo helps Lancers muzzle Musketeers

Defenders in the USHL hardly ever bite on the move, but Omaha's Nick Oddo decided to give the toe-drag a try on a short-handed rush before rifling off a shot.

Just like Omaha's season so far, the decision turned out to be golden: Oddo's shot made it between two defenders and Sioux City goalie Matt Skoff to pull the Lancers into a 1-1 first-period tie.

The Omaha native's third goal of the season ignited the Lancers to a 3-2 win Friday night in front of 3,643 at the Civic Auditorium. Omaha won its 10th game in a row and improved to 13-1. Its last loss came Oct. 17 at home against Fargo.

“I knew I couldn't get around them, so I just tried to make a move and get it on net as quickly as I could,” Oddo said. “It was kind of a lucky one, but I'll take it.”

For the final two periods, Omaha battled Sioux City's game plan of trapping in the neutral zone, which kept the Lancers' speed and explosiveness at bay. But while it may have frustrated Omaha a bit, it wasn't enough to produce a victory for the visitors. The Lancers improved to 3-0 against the Musketeers, having captured the teams' previous matchups in Sioux City.

“That's as well a coached team as there is in the league,” Omaha coach Bliss Littler said. “Their game plan was good, and we had a tough time getting our feet going in the neutral zone.”

Omaha grabbed the lead in the second when Seth Ambroz, fresh off his hot play at the Four Nations Cup, notched his seventh goal on a poke-in rebound on the doorstep of the crease with 1:08 left in the second period.

Reigning USHL offensive player of the week Matt White added to his league-leading scoring total when he put Omaha ahead 3-1 with a power play score just 54 seconds into the third period.

White added an assist, giving him 24 points on the season. Erik Haula also added two assists.

“Obviously (White) is playing real well and feeling good about himself,” Littler said. “I just think he's got his life in order, and everything in his life is going pretty well right now.”

Sioux City made the game's waning seconds interesting when Darik Angeli scored with an extra attacker and just 21 seconds remaining, but Joe Phillipi stood strong and improved to 4-0 on the season, making 18 saves on the night.

Omaha travels to Sioux Falls (8-2-2) tonight to play its sixth game in nine nights, which also happens to be against the team right below the Lancers in the West Division standings.

Sioux City (3-8-1)............1 0 1—2

At Omaha (13-1-0)..................1 1 1—3

First period: 1, Sioux City, Carpenter 2 (Olczyk, Sinelli), 8:50. 2, Omaha, Oddo 3 (unassisted), 16:24 (sh).

Second period: 3, Omaha, Ambroz 7 (Haula, White), 18:52.

Third period: 4, Omaha, White 8 (Haula, Lavin), :54 (pp). 5, Sioux City, Angeli 2 (Schmidt, Silengo), 19:39 (extra attacker).

Shots on goal:

Sioux City 965—20

At Omaha 1199—29

Power plays: Sioux City 0 for 7; Omaha 1 for 4.

Goalies: Sioux City, Skoff (29 shots, 26 saves, 58:53); Omaha, Phillipi (20 shots, 18 saves, 60:00).

Three stars: 1, White. 2, Oddo. 3, Eveland.

A: 3,643

Contact the writer:

444-1201, sports@owh.com