CRANBERRY TWP, PA - The Dubuque Fighting Saints (1-1-0-0, 2 pts) erased a two-goal deficit on Thursday night to beat the Tri-City Storm (0-0-1-1, 2 pts) 3-2 in a shootout.
Late in the second period with a one-goal deficit, Jonathan Morello powered a puck to the front of the net with teammates trailing behind. Torkel Jennersjö pounced on the rebound for his second point of the night and brought the Saints level with 2:18 remaining in the period. Morello and Michael Barron earned assists on the goal.
Over the third period, goaltender Liam Beerman made multiple saves on the penalty kill to keep the game tied. The penalty kill finished the contest perfect in six tries with Beerman making 25 saves in the win.
Jennersjö's goal came after Josh Niedermayer cut the deficit with a wrist shot at the 7:08 mark of the second. Niedermayer scored in his debut, assisted by Jennersjö and Colin Frank.
Despite falling behind 2-0, the Saints forced overtime in Thursday's game to earn their first point of the season. After a scoreless extra frame, the teams skated to a 1-1 draw through three rounds of the shootout.
In the sixth round of the shootout, Jennersjö found the back of the net to put the Saints ahead and give them a chance to win with a save. Beerman made the save on Dylan Nolan, making his fifth save in six shootout attempts. It was Beerman's first-career USHL win.
The Saints and the Storm will clash again on Sept. 27 in Dubuque for the Fighting Saints' home-opener at ImOn Arena.