“60-minute game” was the key phrase for the Indiana Ice as they defeated the Des Moines Buccaneers in game two of the 2012 USHL Fall Classic.

Six different Icemen lit the lamp while Austin Ortega buried two goals in the contest.  Joe Fiala (2A) and Canon Pieper (G, A) also logged two-point games while Mattias Soderqvist turned aside 13 of 16 Des Moines shots.

Indy immediately put pressure on the Buccaneers defense, posting a 13-4 shot advantage in the first period.

The Ice wasted no time making their presence known when Ortega potted his first goal of the afternoon and second of the Fall Classic after only 90 seconds of play.  Zach Aman and Joe Fiala logged assists on the play.

Canon Pieper took advantage of a power play situation to light his second lamp of the preseason and give Indy a 2-0 lead 11 minutes into the contest.  Alex Smith, acquired in a trade from the Muskegon Lumberjacks, earned helper’s credit on the goal.

Des Moines got on the board with five minutes remaining in the first when Christian Lampasso capitalized on a Buccaneers’ powerplay. the Ice responded two minutes later when Drew Smolcynski took a pass from Bo Pieper and buried it past Des Moines netminder Nick Ellis.

The Buccaneers cut the deficit in half with an early goal by Luke Voltin before David Powlowski buried a pass from Peter Hand and Tyler Pham to regain a 4-2 lead with eight minutes left in the second period.

Woody Hudson went five-hole off the Canon Pieper faceoff to give Indy a 5-2 lead going into the second intermission.

The physical play picked up during the third period, but the Ice were able to maintain the lead and earn a 1-1-0 record through two games in the USHL Fall Classic.

Trent Samuels-Thomas brought Des Moines back within two goals early in the third.  Ortega notched his second tally of the night and third in two games with under a minute remaining to extend the Ice’s lead to 6-3.  Michael Crowley closed out the scoring with his first preseason goal in the final ten seconds of the game.

Indy close out the Fall Classic Saturday against the defending Western Conference Champion Waterloo Black Hawks at 5:00 pm. 

Regular season action begins on Friday, September 28 in the “Windy City” as the Ice hit the road against the Chicago Steel.  Hockey returns to Indianapolis on Saturday, September 29 against the Omaha Lancers.  Saturday’s contest from Pan Am Plaza starts at 7:05 pm.