YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (January 10th) – It wasn’t easy tonight, but the Muskegon Lumberjacks were able to cash in on enough offensive opportunities and hold off a late furious rally from the host Youngstown Phantoms to come away with a 4-3 victory at the Covelli Centre.  With the win, the Lumberjacks have captured back-to-back wins on the road for the first time since their first two road games of the regular season.

Near the midway point of the opening frame, the Phantoms (7-18-5, 19 points) got on the board first and grabbed an early 1-0 lead at the 8:01 mark as Tyler Spezia chipped a backhand shot from the low slot over the outstretched reach of Eric Schierhorn (9-8-1) for his 3rd of the season that was set up by newcomer Bo Pellah and Kyle Mackey.

Just over a minute later at the 9:28 mark, the Lumberjacks (15-15-4, 34 points) were able to even the score at 1-1 courtesy of the man advantage as Trevor Morbeck received a nice feed from Mason Jobst in the right faceoff circle and was found alone on the backdoor in the left faceoff circle to fire a one-time shot past Sean Romeo (1-9-0) for his 10th goal of the season that was also helped by Matt Iacopelli.

Later in the opening frame at the 14:17 mark, Muskegon grabbed their first lead of the night at 2-1 as Haralds Egle found a loose rebound to the left of Romeo and chipped a backhand top shelf for his 2nd of the year that was assisted by Scott Pooley.

The score remained the same into the first intermission brake with the Phantoms clinging to an 11-10 advantage in the shot department.

In the second half of the middle frame at the 13:21 mark, Youngstown would take advantage of a power play of their own to knot the game even at 2-2 with a marker from Luke Stork as he swatted a puck out of midair from between the faceoff circles off a rebound given up by Schierhorn for his 11th of the season that was helped by Conor Lemirande and Mackey.

In the waning moments of the second period at the 17:19 mark, the Lumberjacks regained their lead at 3-2 as Matt Mendelson wristed a shot from the left faceoff circle that deflected off the glove hand of Romeo and into the back of the net for his 12th of the year that was assisted by Cooper Marody.

The game slid into the second and final intermission with the Lumberjacks holding their one goal advantage, while the Phantoms were holding the edge in the shot battle by a slim 21-19 margin.

Muskegon used their late second period momentum into the early stages of the third period snagging a two-goal lead at 4-2 by the 3:19 mark as Egle spun a pass from the left wing down low to an open Connor Wood in which he tipped in his 3rd goal of the season through Romeo’s five-hole that was also assisted by Christian Wolanin.

The Phantoms refused to go away as they cut the deficit to 4-3 at the 6:32 mark as a delayed penalty was coming up to the Lumberjacks leading to a six-on-five tally from J.J. Piccinich for his team-leading 18th goal of the season deflecting the puck out of midair to the right of Schierhorn that was set up by Josh Melnick and Kyle Connor.

The game trickled into the final moments of regulation the same score as Youngstown would pull Romeo for the extra attacker with 1:27 left in regulation and have numerous opportunities to even the game, but Schierhorn was up to the task making key saves to preserve the one goal road victory.  The Phantoms outshot the Lumberjacks on the night, 33-30.

Eric Schierhorn earned his 9th victory in net tonight stopping 30 of 33 shots for the Lumberjacks, while Sean Romeo made 26 saves for the Phantoms in the home defeat.  Muskegon was led offensively by Haralds Egle with a goal and an assist along with eight others chipping in with a point.  Youngstown was led on the offensive end by Kyle Mackey with two assists.  The Lumberjacks improve to 3-1-0 against the Phantoms with five regular season meetings left between the two squads.

The Lumberjacks will conclude their second consecutive weekend on the road with a tilt against the Indiana Ice tomorrow night at 7:05 pm from Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The next pair of home games for the Lumberjacks will be on Friday, January 24th and Saturday, January 25th against the U.S. National Development Program at 7:15 pm, respectively.  Friday’s game against the Under-17 Team will feature the second and final trading card giveaway of the season along with the return of our “Jacks Win You Win” promotion.  If the Lumberjacks win on Friday, every fan in attendance will receive a $5 Sport Clips gift card.

Saturday’s game against the Under-18 Team will feature our annual “Jacks Fight Cancer” Game presented by Mercy Health Partners.  Fans can contribute to the event in numerous ways in which proceeds will be donated to the Johnson Family Cancer Center, and more information can be found on the Lumberjacks’ Facebook page by searching “Muskegon Lumberjacks.”  Additionally, our “Subway Saturday” promotion returns, where if the Lumberjacks win on Saturday, fans that attend the game can present their ticket stubs at any participating West Michigan Subway location for a buy one six-inch sub, get another six-inch sub of equal or lesser value for free.

Individual game tickets will be on sale for the next pair of home games over the next few weeks 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.