The Lincoln Stars settled for a weekend split as they fell, 5-2, to the Tri-City Storm on Saturday night at the Viaero Center.

Jack Pechar opened the scoring with his first USHL goal at the 14:55 mark of the first period in his fifth game of the season. It marked the 16th time that the Stars scored the game's first goal, the most in the USHL.

"Jack is a very good hockey player," head coach Rocky Russo said. "He's got a bright future in a Lincoln Stars uniform, that's for sure. He'll be back to join us later in the season and we're excited to have him for more than just a couple of days here and there. We want to be able to have him practice and spend some time with us. I really think you're going to see him grow at that point."

Pechar hopped out of the penalty box and took the puck from the neutral zone into the attacking end on the left side and fired off a shot that was initially denied. He picked up his own rebound, cycled around the net and tucked it in near-post side.

That lead lasted less than two minutes as Dane Dowiak fanned on a shot from the right circle but settled himself and fed August Falloon, who was wide-open on the near side of the ice backdoor and redirected the puck into the net.

Tri-City scored two more times before Lincoln answered, including Dowiak scoring his second goal in as many days against the Stars with the game-winner at the 3:16 mark of the third when he tucked in a rebound off a shot from Kieran Cebrian at the bottom the right circle.

A couple of roughing minors immediately after that goal led to two minutes of four-on-four play and Antonio Fernandez scored his second goal in the last three games. Fernandez followed up his own shot for his third goal of the season, all of which have come against Tri-City.  

Lincoln falls to 4-2-1 against Tri-City and gets another crack at their Western Conference rivals on Dec. 31 in Kearney. The Stars are off until Dec. 30, when they travel to the Liberty First Credit Union Arena to face the Omaha Lancers. Lincoln's next home games are Jan. 6-7 against Fargo and fans can also purchase a January 4-Pack for just $45 to secure the same seat to all four home games in January. Single-game tickets and the January 4-Pack can be purchased at lincolnstars.com.

The Stars won't hit the ice for another two weeks but current Stars forward Tanner Ludtke and USA Hockey are in action on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. in the World Junior A Challenge in Cornwall, Ontario. Ludtke scored a power-play goal in USA's 4-3 win against Sweden in the WJAC Semifinals on Saturday night. Ludtke and Stars' athletic trainer and equipment manager Corey Courtney are looking to return home with gold medal as they face Canada East on Sunday afternoon. Stars fans can watch the game on NHL Network.

Five different members of the Stars, past and present, will also be in action at the U20 World Junior Championship before Lincoln's next USHL game on Dec. 30. Alums Luke Mittelstadt, Noah Laba and Kaidan Mbereko all made USA hockey's team while current Stars forward Klavs Veinbergs is on Latvia's squad. Current Stars defenseman Marian Mosko is competing to make Slovakia WJC roster. Latvia faces USA in the first game of the tournament on Dec. 26 at 3 p.m. on NHL Network.

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