1 week Ago
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The Sioux City Musketeers couldn't solve the Lincoln Stars' defense. It was evident in the first two games of the best-of-five Western Division semifinals of the USHL Clark Cup Playoffs. And it was obvious again on Monday night at Tyson Events Center in Sioux City as Lincoln closed out the three-game sweep of the Musketeers with a 2-0 win.
"It's obviously disappointing to have your season come to an end," said Sioux City head coach Jason Kersner. "Lincoln has been the best team in the league all season. I thought we completed hard.
This series was three really close games. Winning teams find ways to win when it matters, and (Lincoln) just made more plays than us. "They're just such a good defensive team.
We had a couple of decent chances (at a goal) that maybe could have gone in, but at the end of the day, you just have to tip your cap to Lincoln. They're a special team defensively." Lincoln's Alex Pelletier (left) tries to evade Sioux City's Landon Nycz (right) during a USHL Clark Cup second round game at Tyson Events Center in Sioux City on Monday, April 21, 2025.
Ryan Timmerman, Sioux City Journal With the victory, Lincoln moves on to play the winner of Waterloo and Sioux Falls in the division finals (Waterloo leads the series, 2-1). The Stars started the scoring in just over a minute left in the opening period. Fresh off successfully killing a two-minute Sioux City power play, Lincoln took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Matt Maltais, the first of the playoffs for the Northeastern University recruit, on assists by Jack Pechar and Layne Loomer.
"We were able to stick to our game plan," said Lincoln head coach Rocky Russo. "We didn't want to give (Sioux City) extended offensive zone opportunity and get to the blue line, not just wait until the puck got into their zone. "We got the (goal) there late in the first.
(Sioux City) was able to capitalize on some mistakes we made in Games 1 and 2, so we really wanted to tighten up defensively once we got the lead, and I thought we did a good job of that. We kind of played downhill after that." Despite the Lincoln lead, the Musketeers out-shot the Stars in the first period, 9 to 5.
At the second intermission, each side successfully killed two opposing power plays, though the shot discrepancy went in the other direction, though, as Lincoln put 17 shots on goal in the second period while the Musketeers mustered just two in the frame. "We had a tough time trying to solve (Lincoln)," Kersner said. "Not just tonight, but throughout the series.
We just couldn't generate enough high-quality scoring chances. I thought we defended as hard as we could." Sioux City didn't have much more luck in the third as Lincoln again out-shot the Musketeers, 10-6, plus added a Layne Loomer empty-net goal in the closing minutes on assists by Jack Pechar and Caeden Herrington.
Despite the loss, Sioux City goalie Samuel Urban was terrific in goal as the Arizona State commit stopped 30 of 31 shots he faced. "I thought (Urban) was unbelievable tonight," Kersner said. "We just couldn't find enough offense.
He played a special game. I've seen him play a lot of those, but tonight ranks up there with the best games I've ever seen him play. It was when we needed him the most, he gave us a chance to win.
" Lincoln goaltender Yan Shostak posted the shutout by making 17 saves as the Stars out-shot Sioux City 32-17 for the game. "We knew this was going to be a tough series," said Russo. "(Sioux City) is a great team, they're well-coached and have a lot of high-end skill.
For us, it needed to be a full team effort, and it was. In order to win this series, we needed to defend in full groups of five and get good goaltending. "We knew they're season was on the line and they're a really talented team.
We talked about the fact that they were going to give us every last bit of energy they had and we were going to have to match -- and exceed -- that." The Journal’s Jared McNett shows how to download and browse the Sioux City Journal's app. Jesse Brothers.
