The Indiana Ice took the “O” out of the Omaha Lancers in a 2-0 shutout home-opener victory Saturday at Pan Am Plaza.  Goaltender Dalton Izyk was perfect in net, stopping all 18 Lancer shots and recording his second career shutout while helping head coach Ron Gay earn his first USHL win.

Indiana scored all they needed in the second period. An active shift by Ice defenseman Alex Smith started the scoring sequence that resulted in the game’s first goal.  Forward Brian Morgan was credited with the first tally of the night, with Smith and Austin Hervey earning assists on the lamplighter.

Indy increased the cushion to 2-0 with 2:04 remaining in the middle frame as Austin Ortega scored off of a feed by Robbie Baillargeon.  Ortega has scored in both regular season games after being acquired from the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.

“We went back to basics and just stayed with our game plan,” stated Ortega. “I was a little lucky because Baillargeon passed it to me and all I had to do was finish the play.”

The game plan included putting the defensive clamps down early and it paid off. The hosts held Omaha to just one shot on goal for the first 17 minutes of the period, but Izyk had to be sharp in the final three minutes as he turned away two point-blank visitor scoring chances.

“I wasn’t very busy,” said Izyk, “so I had to try to keep myself mentally sharp. I was skating side-to-side in the goal crease waiting for something to happen. When I had to step up, the time was mine. The team deserved this win, and I’m happy that I was able to do my job.”

The Ice killed all three Lancer power-plays tonight and is perfect on the season in stopping a total of seven power-plays while skating short-handed.

Indiana returns to Pan Am Plaza Friday at 7:05 for a face-off with Team USA.