The Fargo Force let one get away.
Last-place Lincoln erased a 2-0 deficit en route to a 4-3 shootout victory against Fargo before an announced crowd of 3,186 Friday at the Urban Plains Center.
"It was just an unenthused effort tonight," said Force coach Steve Johnson, whose team missed an opportunity to pull within a victory of United States Hockey League West Division leader Omaha. "We didn't deserve to win. You get into an overtime and shootout situation like that and they deserve to win. They played harder than we did."
The game went into a shootout tied at 3-3.
Lincoln's Sam Alfieri, Kyle Gibbons and Cory Hibbeler each scored on Fargo goaltender Dayn Belfour.
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The Force failed on each of their three attempts.
Sixteen-year-old rookie forward Dominik Shine completed a hat trick and tied the game at 3-3 at 8:31 of the third period.
A pair of second-period goals by Shine tied the game at 2-2.
He put the Stars on the board with a power-play goal at 9:24.
Shine knotted the game when Belfour left a rebound free in front of the net with 1:35 remaining in the period.
"He was obviously the best player on the ice," Johnson said. "No question about it."
The Force (33-14-4) took little time to warm up.
Johnnie Searfoss scored on a centering pass by Matt Leitner to put Fargo ahead 1-0 just 40 seconds into the game.
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Both teams had plenty of scoring opportunities in the first period due to three penalties apiece.
However, Force Belfour turned away 10 shots, and Lincoln's Matt Green had seven saves to keep the game close.
The Force have nine regular-season games remaining, including a head-to-head matchup with division-leading Omaha on Wednesday at the UP Center. Indiana defeated Omaha 4-3 on Friday.
"Just lack of second and third effort," Johnson said of the loss. "In this league, if you play against a team that outworks you, they win probably 80-percent of the time. I thought they played harder than we did."
FIRST PERIOD: 1, F, Searfoss (Leitner), 0:40.
SECOND PERIOD: 2, F, Leitner (Stampohar, Burkemper), 5:17. 3, L, Shine (Mermis), 9:24 (pp). 4, L, Shine (Peterson, West), 18:25.
THIRD PERIOD: 5, F, Leivermann (McDermott), 1:33. 6, L, Shine (Lauwers, Gibbons), 8:31.
OVERTIME: No scoring.
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SAVES: L, Green 7-8-10-3--28. F, Belfour 10-4-8-1--23.
Readers can reach Forum reporter
Heath Hotzler at (701) 241-5562
