BENSENVILLE, Illinois (April 4th) – After finding out that the Green Bay Gamblers and USNTDP Under-17 Team had won their respective games earlier in the night, the Muskegon Lumberjacks had to take care of business in their road contest against the Chicago Steel to still control their own fate for that last playoff spot and came away with a big defensive effort including solid goaltending from Eric Schierhorn to grind out a 3-1 victory tonight at The Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville, Illinois. With the win, it sets up a winner-take-all game tomorrow night at home against the rival Gamblers after they beat the Indiana Ice on the road by a 4-2 final.
The Lumberjacks (30-24-5, 65 points) won the race to the scoreboard just 3:57 into the game as a wrist shot from Matt Iacopelli at the left point had eyes and snuck over the glove of Chris Nell (16-21-3) for his league-leading 41st goal of the season that was helped by Christian Wolanin.
The score held into the last few minutes of the period when the visitors doubled their lead to 2-0 with exactly 3:00 left in the opening frame as former Steel player Chris Dodero fed a pass from between the faceoff circles through a defender’s legs and found Jack Rowe alone on the backdoor in which he chipped one over Nell’s right shoulder for his 19th marker of the year and 9th as a Lumberjack that was also set up by Adam Larkin.
Muskegon took their two-goal lead into the first intermission with Chicago outshooting them slightly by a 12-10 margin.
An evenly-played second period slid into the latter stages until the host Steel (29-26-4, 62 points) sliced the deficit in half to 2-1 with 3:04 left in the middle frame as John Schilling one-timed a centering feed by former Lumberjack C.J. Smith over the left pad of Eric Schierhorn (20-16-1) while parked in front of the net for his 10th goal of the season that was also assisted by John Ernsting.
The Lumberjacks took their slim one goal lead into the second intermission with the Steel still hanging on to the shot battle by a 25-20 margin.
The third period featured strong defense and goaltending from Schierhorn as a penalty-free period saw the Lumberjacks give up only six shots on goal to the Steel and capped off the big road victory with an empty net goal from Trevor Morbeck with 19.5 seconds left in regulation for his 15th marker of the year as he won a foot race to a loose puck between the faceoff circles that was helped by Wolanin. Chicago outshot Muskegon by the slimmest of margins for the game, 31-30.
Eric Schierhorn picks up his 20th victory of the season making 30 saves on the evening for the Lumberjacks, while Chris Nell took the home loss for the Steel stopping 27 shots on the night. Muskegon was led offensively by Wolanin with his two assists along with five others chipping in with a point. Muskegon finishes the five-game regular season series against Chicago with a 2-3-0 record.
The Lumberjacks will conclude their 2013-14 regular season tomorrow night back at the L.C. Walker Arena with a clash against the rival Green Bay Gamblers at 7:15 pm in a winner-take-all game for the final spot in the 2014 USHL Clark Cup Playoffs for the right to take on the Eastern Conference Champion Indiana Ice.
Tomorrow’s game will feature Fan Appreciation Night presented by Hennessey’s that includes Happy Hour being served all game long courtesy of Rock 101.7 FM with $2 domestic beers, popcorn, and soda. In addition, our Subway Saturday promotion returns, where if the Lumberjacks defeat the Gamblers, fans that attend the game can redeem their ticket stubs at any participating West Michigan Subway location for a buy one six-inch sub and get another six-inch sub of equal or lesser value for free.
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. You can also catch the Lumberjacks on Michigan TV and Sports with the Muskegon Lumberjack “Game of the Week” every Thursday at 6:00 pm on Charter channel 16.
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.
