GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (October 12th) – For the second time this season at the Green Bay Resch Center, the Muskegon Lumberjacks and Green Bay went wire-to-wire in which the game had to be decided in a shootout where this time the host Gamblers came away with the extra point in a 4-3 victory tonight (1-0 in the shootout).
The Gamblers (4-1-2, 10 points) tallied the game’s first goal of the night as their special teams gave them a 1-0 lead at the 7:55 mark with Kevin Irwin’s team-leading fifth goal of the season on the power play as he backhanded a goal on the backdoor off a nice pass down low on the left wing from Evan Tironese. Ryan Lough also received a helper on the Irwin marker.
A few minutes later at the 13:49 mark, Green Bay doubled their lead to 2-0 as Ryan Siroky used some fancy moves to slip his way through the Muskegon defense and found himself all alone in front of Jordan Uhelski (2-0-1) to backhand his second goal of the season. Frederik Olofsson received the lone helper on the Siroky tally.
Green Bay took that two-goal lead into the second intermission while outshooting Muskegon by a slim 12-9 margin.
The score held into the second half of the second period when the Lumberjacks (4-2-1, 9 points) cut the deficit in half to 2-1 at the 13:26 mark when Connor Hurley used some crafty moves of his own to fire his third goal of the season home past Jared Rutledge (4-1-0) that was assisted by Carson Gatt.
The game went into the second intermission the same score with Muskegon outshooting Green Bay in the middle frame, 10-8.
The third period featured a back-and-forth affair in which Muskegon notched the equalizer at the 6:03 mark with a breakaway tally from Matt Iacopelli for his second of the season that was assisted by Tommy Panico.
A few minutes later at the 8:38 mark, Green Bay regained the one goal lead at 3-2 with Irwin’s second of the night and sixth of the season as he one-timed a slap shot home past Uhelski that was setup by Aaron O’Neill.
The score held into the latter stages of regulation when the Lumberjacks tied the game for the second time of the night with 2:24 left as Tommy Panico fired his first career USHL goal past Rutledge from the left point that was helped by Gatt.
No more scoring would be had in regulation and the game went into overtime as the Lumberjacks edged the Gamblers in shots during the third period, 9-6. The overtime frame saw no goals tallied as Green Bay outshot Muskegon in the extra session, 3-1.
In the shootout, no goals were tallied through the first four rounds until Green Bay seized the extra point as Nick Schmaltz laced the game-winner in the fifth round as he slid a low wrist shot under Uhelski’s glove side to capture the home victory.
Green Bay outshot Muskegon slightly, 30-29, and Jared Rutledge stopped 26 shots on the night to earn his fourth victory of the season. Jordan Uhelski saved 27 shots on the night for the visiting Lumberjacks. Kevin Irwin led the Green Bay offense with his pair of goals, while Tommy Panico (one goal and one assist) and Carson Gatt (two assists) led the Lumberjacks offense with two points each. The Lumberjacks are now 1-0-1 this season against the Gamblers.
The Lumberjacks will return home for a pair of games next weekend against the Sioux Falls Stampede on Friday, October 18th and Saturday, October 19th at 7:15 pm, respectively. Friday’s game features the first of two trading card giveaways for the season, while Saturday’s game features “Trick of Treat with the Jacks” and the return of our Subway Saturday promotion.
Individual game tickets are on sale for the low price of $10 for adults and $6 for children ages 3-12 if they are purchased before the day of the game. Tickets can be purchased at the Lumberjacks’ Box Office or by calling (231) 724-5225.
The exclusive radio home for the Muskegon Lumberjacks all season long is 92.5 FM WLAW “The Outlaw” as Bryan Fongers delivers the call beginning ten minutes prior to puck drop.
The proud home of all Muskegon Lumberjacks home games is the L.C. Walker Arena in downtown Muskegon located just minutes from the beautiful Lake Michigan Shoreline. Muskegon Lumberjacks hockey, “Experience the Buzz!”
The Muskegon Lumberjacks are proud members of the United States Hockey League, the nation’s only Tier I junior hockey league and the leading producer of NCAA players and National Hockey League draft picks in the United States. The Lumberjacks’ organization prides itself on developing not just premier hockey talent, but also exceptional young men outside the arena of sports. For more information, visit www.muskegonlumberjacks.com.
