INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (December 13th) – The offense for the Muskegon Lumberjacks just couldn’t get things going tonight against a stout defensive effort put forth by the host Indiana Ice as two first period goals by the Ice proved to be difference maker along with a solid goaltending effort from Jason Pawloski in a 3-1 final at the Pan Am Pavilion in downtown Indianapolis.

The Ice (13-5-4, 30 points) jumped on the scoreboard first grabbing a 1-0 lead at the 5:27 mark as Joe Sullivan one-timed his third goal of the season from the left side of the net off a feed by Tyler Andrew from between the faceoff circles that was also helped by Austin Kosack.

Later in the opening frame at the 14:29 mark, the Ice doubled their lead to 2-0 at the 14:29 mark as Denis Smirnov found himself open on the backdoor sliding his fifth marker of the season past Jordan Uhelski’s (6-5-3) right pad that was set up by Scott Conway and Mitch Hults.

Indiana took that two-goal lead into the first intermission while outshooting the Lumberjacks by a narrow 13-11 margin.

Indiana built on their lead lacing a power play goal at the 8:58 mark of the second period as a wrist shot from the point by Bradley Johnson hit off of Andrew’s chest while parked in front of Uheski and trickled to the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season that was also helped by Jason Salvaggio.

The score held going into the third period with the shots at 23-16 and still in favor of the host Ice.

Defense and goaltending was the story for the final 20 minutes as neither team could crack the scoreboard until the final five minutes of regulation when the Lumberjacks (11-12-4, 26 points) finally popped one past Jason Palowski (11-3-3) as Mason Jobst won a faceoff in the left circle and muscled a shot that went off of Pawloski, over his body, and into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season that went unassisted.

Unfortunately, that was all the offense tonight for the Lumberjacks as the Ice kept them off the scoreboard for the remainder of regulation while claiming the shot battle by the slimmest of margins at 31-30.

Jason Pawloski stopped 29 of 30 shots for the Indiana Ice to earn his second victory against Muskegon this season.  Jordan Uhelski stopped 28 of 31 shots for the Lumberjacks in the road defeat.  Indiana’s offense was led by Tyler Andrew (one goal and one assist) with two points.  Muskegon falls to 1-2-0 against Indiana with five regular season meetings left between the two squads.

The Lumberjacks will play their final game before the league-wide two-week holiday break tomorrow night with a bout against the Chicago Steel at 8:00 pm.

Following the break, the Lumberjacks will return home for the team’s only Sunday home game of the season on December 29th against the Youngstown Phantoms at 5:15 pm that will feature Car Load Night.  Fans can pile any number of people into one car for the low price of $40 that will include a ticket to the game along with a complimentary parking pass.

Individual game tickets will be on sale for the next two weeks for the December 29th home game 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.