The Fargo Force established a new USHL record for most wins (49) in a single season.
Recapping Saturday's action around the USHL.
Fargo 5, Des Moines 4
The Fargo Force scored four times in the first period and held on to complete the weekend sweep. With the win, the Force have established a new USHL record for the most wins (49) in a single season, previously set by Des Moines during the 1998-99 season.
Zam Plante (PIT) scored twice within the first seven minutes of the game, marking his fifth multi-goal game of the season. Reid Daavettila and Brasen Boser also found the back of the net in the first period for Fargo.
Des Moines responded with three straight goals, including Ben Kevan's (2025) 22nd of the year at the 6:07 mark of the third period.
Merril Steenari's seventh goal of the season late in regulation put Fargo back up by two goals before Des Moines' Liam Watkins tallied his 21st with just over a minute to go.
Force netminder Anton Castro turned aside 31 of 35. The Wisconsin commit now has wins in four of his last five games.
Tri-City 6, Sioux Falls 3
Trevor Connelly (2024) and Cooper Simpson (2025) both tallied two goals to help the Tri-City Storm skate past the visiting Sioux Falls Stampede on Saturday.
The Herd opened the scoring on Grant Dillard's third goal of the season at the 11:07 mark of the first period.
However, the Storm ripped off five straight goals, including a highlight-reel goal from Connelly early in the middle frame. The tally marked Connelly's 30th goal of the season.
Simpson's two goals bookended Tri-City's five-goal run, giving him his first multi-goal game of his career. The North Dakota commit now has goals in three of his last four games.
The Stampede responded with two goals in the third period, including John McNelis's (2024) 17th of the season with under eight minutes left in regulation. However, Connelly added his second of the night to put the game out of reach.
Storm netminder Cameron Korpi stopped 26 of 29 and snapped a two-game skid.
NTDP U18s 4, Muskegon 2
Sam Laurila (2024) broke a 2-2 tie at the 11:26 mark of the third period on a chaotic sequence in front of the Muskegon net in what ended up being the game-winner in the NTDP U18 squad's 4-2 win.
Cole Eiserman (2024) ripped a shot from inside the left circle to open the scoring. The Boston University commit is nine goals away from breaking Cole Caufield's NTDP record of 126 goals in 2019.
Team USA and Muskegon traded goals in the second period. Muskegon's Ethan Whitcomb tallied his 18th of the season after forcing a turnover and scoring unassisted to tie the game. NTDP forward Kamil Bednarik (2024) scored on a shot through traffic to give Team USA a 2-1 lead. Just over four minutes later, Joe Connor tallied his 30th goal of the season for the Jacks.
Laurila's goal was reviewed for goaltender interference, but the officials determined it was a good goal on the ice. With two seconds left in regulation, James Hagens (2025) tallied the empty-netter in the NTDP U18's final home game of the year.
Team USA goaltender Nick Kempf (2024) made 20 saves on 22 shots on goal.
Omaha 3, Lincoln 1
Despite outshooting the Omaha Lancers 41-26, the Lincoln Stars saw their three-game win streak end on Saturday.
Cameron VanSickle scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal at the 11:49 mark of the third period, and Nick Pierre put the game away via the empty-netter for Omaha.
Nicholas Sykora opened the scoring just over six minutes into the game with his third goal of the season for the Lancers. Just over three minutes later, Lincoln's Jack Pechar tallied his 19th goal of the season on the power play, assisted by Blake Montgomery and Adam Kleber.
Lancers netminder Kam Hendrickson was brilliant, stopping 40 of 41 shots on goal to pick up his third win of the year.
Waterloo 8, Cedar Rapids 1
Six different skaters found the back of the net for Waterloo, with Griffin Erdman and Myles Hilman scoring twice in the Black Hawks' dominant win against the visiting Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.
Waterloo opened the game with five straight goals, including three in the first period. Tyler Miller, Reid Morich, and Erdman scored in the opening 20 minutes.
Into the second period, Hilman tallied his first of two goals, followed by Gavyn Thoreson's 21st of the year. The latter now has goals in five of his last seven games and points in six of those.
RoughRiders' defenseman Joel Kjellberg ended Calvin Vachon's shutout bid with his 11th of the season less than two minutes into the third period.
However, Waterloo went right back on the attack, scoring three straight goals to close out the game. Hilman tallied his second of the night. Eero Butella scored his fourth goal and first since March 1. Erdman tallied his 22nd of the season and his second goal of the evening at the 9:03 mark of the frame.
Black Hawks netminder Calvin Vachon stopped 28 of 29 shots on goal and earned his second consecutive win. The Univ. of Alaska-Fairbanks commit made a combined 42 saves on 44 shots on the weekend. Some USHL Weekly hardware may be in order for Vachon.
Youngstown 3, Green Bay 1
Ryan Botterill scored twice, and Aiden Wright made 22 saves on 23 shots on goal as the Youngstown Phantoms completed the weekend sweep against the Green Bay Gamblers.
With the win, the Phantoms pulled within two points of third place in the Eastern Conference with two games remaining.
Botterill opened the scoring less than four minutes into the game, sending a one-timer from the right-wing circle past Gamblers netminder Adam Gajan (CHI).
The Wisconsin commit added his second of the night and 29th of the season just 13 seconds into the second period, wristing home a cross-ice pass from Tory Pitner.
Just over two minutes later, Mikey Burchill's forecheck on the penalty kill forced a turnover in Green Bay's defensive zone. Burchill grabbed the loose puck and ripped a shot into the back of the net.
The Gamblers ended Wright's shutout bid on Geno Carcone's 10th of the year and third goal in his last five games.
NTDP U17s 3, Madison 1
Despite being outshot 23-17, the NTDP U17 team skated past the Madison Capitols by a 3-1 final score on Saturday night.
Cullen Potter (2025) opened the scoring at the 7:37 mark of the first period, lighting the lamp on a backdoor tap-in from Will Horcoff (2025).
John Stout (2024) tied the game for Madison less than three minutes into the second period. Rainers Rullers skated around the net and found his teammate, and Stout ripped a shot from the left-wing circle past USA netminder Joey Slavick.
Conrad Fondrk (2025) tallied the first of his two goals before the end of the second period, roofing a backhanded shot into the Madison net. At the midway point of the third frame, Fondrk added his second of the night and third goal of the weekend.
Slavick stopped 22 of 23 shots on goal and now has wins in two of his last three games.
Dubuque 4, Chicago 2
The Dubuque Fighting Saints outshot the Chicago Steel 30-16 and held off a late surge to collect win No. 40 on the season.
The Fighting Saints jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the second period. Joona Vaisanen, Erik Pahlsson, and Juraj Pekarcik all found the back of the net.
Chicago got the board with Michael Hage's (2024) 33rd goal of the season late in the middle frame.
Beckett Hendrickson (BOS) made it a three-goal lead again for Dubuque, netting his 26th of the year. The Boston Bruins draft pick extended his point streak to seven games.
The Steel closed the gap at the 11:40 mark of the period on Joey DelGreco's 21st.
Dubuque netminder Dylan Johnson made 14 saves on 16 shots and has now won his last four starts.