Force on losing skid after back-to-back losses to Sioux City

The past two matchups between Fargo and Sioux City have been physical. Fights broke out. Even more extracurricular shoves were thrown in. Hockey teams beating up on each other sometimes happens when they want to beat each other, Drobot said.

Drobot said the Force won their fights. Now the Force just need to find a way to win their games.

Through all the pushing and shoving, Sioux City found a way to hold on for a 3-1 win over Fargo in a United State Hockey League Western Conference matchup Saturday, Jan. 20, at Scheels Arena.

"We poured our hearts out," Force head coach Cary Eades said. "We're not scoring a lot right now. Mistakes are being magnified. We had a lot of great effort and a lot better execution."

The Force lost back-to-back regulation games for the first time this season and played their first weekend without scoring any points in the standings.

After losing seven of their last 10 games, the Force (19-9-2-3) lost control of the USHL Western Conference after Tri-City (21-8-1-1) closed a one-point gap with a win Saturday.

"We're disappointed. We're pissed off," Eades said. "They made one more play each night. We've got to find a way to turn that around."

Despite 46 shots on goal in the first two periods for the Force, the Musketeers (12-13-3-2) were the first to score. Bauer Neudecker pushed a fast break, passed the puck through the legs of a Fargo defender to the left and found Matyas Svoboda, who did the rest for the first goal of the game.

But the lead was short-lived. The Force scored about four minutes later when a shot was deflected off Sioux City goalie Matt Jurusik and found Drobot with a wide open shot at the right side of the net. That was Drobot's sixth goal of the season.

But Jurusik wouldn't let another goal go by and ended the game with 53 saves. Fargo's 26 shots on goal in the first period was the most in the USHL this season and the Force's 54 shots on goal were the second most in a single game in the USHL this year.

Sioux City, on the other hand, responded with two scores in the third period. Micah Miller took a solo breakaway into the offensive zone, skated around one last Fargo defender and got a shot to go top shelf past Fargo goalie Strauss Mann's stick hand.

Sioux City's Sampo Ranta, who leads Sioux City in points with 17, scored his 10th goal of the season on an empty net to put the game away.

"We're going through a little bit of a struggle right now," Drobot said. "We've just got to find a way to put up more on the scoreboard. I think we'll definitely have a breakthrough here."

Fargo lost its last two games against Sioux City, but will host the Musketeers again Thursday, Jan. 25.

"Tonight we did a lot of things well, it just didn't happen for us," Drobot said. "The good thing is we have them next week."

FIRST PERIOD: No scoring.

SECOND PERIOD: 1, SC, Svoboda (Neudecker, Pospisil), 12:29. 2, F, Drobot (Bell, Savage), 16:43.

THIRD PERIOD: 3, SC, M. Miller, 6:32. 4, SC, Ranta (Pospisil), 19:13, en.

SAVES: SC, Jurusik 26-19-8--53. F, Mann 8-14-11--33 .

A: 3,823