LINCOLN, Nebraska (October 26th) – In another one shot contest on the road, the Muskegon Lumberjacks found enough fortitude in the third period and held off a late Lincoln Stars surge to earn a big two points for their first victory against the Western Conference foe since joining the USHL with a 4-3 victory tonight at the Lincoln Ice Box.
The Stars (2-3-4, 8 points) got the game’s first goal of the night on the power play at the 2:53 mark from Brandon Smith that was assisted by Zach Frye and Magnus Hoff to make it a 1-0 game. Muskegon quickly countered to even the game at 1-1 just 1:41 after the Star’s as Haralds Egle slid home his first career USHL goal past Michael Bitzer (2-2-4) that was helped by Frederik Tiffels.
The game went into the first intermission even at one goal each with the Lumberjacks outshooting the Stars, 17-11.
The Lumberjacks (6-4-1, 13 points) continued the offensive pressure early into the second period at the 1:08 mark as Mason Jobst muscled his way to the front of the net sliding one past Bitzer for his first marker of the season that was assisted by Matheson Iacopelli. Muskegon would then make it a two-goal lead at 3-1 later in the middle frame at the 17:44 mark as Iacopelli notched his team-leading seventh goal of the season slipping one home on the backdoor that was aided by Jobst and Trevor Morbeck.
Lincoln struck back 55 seconds after the Iacopelli goal with 1:21 left in the second period with a rebound goal from John Simonson from between the faceoff circles that was assisted by Christian Lampasso and Jared Kolquist.
The Lumberjacks held that one goal lead into the second intermission still holding the shot advantage, 27-24.
Early into the third period at the 6:18 mark, the Stars used the power play to their advantage again knotting the game at 3-3 with a screen shot goal from the left point by Frye past Eric Schierhorn (4-2-0) that was helped by Luke Shiplo and Luke Voltin.
Almost six minutes later at the 12:20 mark, the Lumberjacks regained the one goal advantage as Matt Mendelson found a loose puck on the backdoor and fired his second goal of the season home that was assisted by Connor Hurley and Cooper Marody.
The last few minutes of the game featured numerous penalties including a four-on-three power play for Lincoln with 3:47 remaining in regulation, but the Lumberjacks stood tall shorthanded and forced Lincoln to pull Bitzer with 1:02 to go.
Muskegon held off the late rally by Lincoln to come away with the road victory for their first-ever win at the Lincoln Ice Box.
Muskegon outshot Lincoln for the game, 36-31, and Eric Schierhorn made 28 saves to earn his third victory of the season. Michael Bitzer stopped 32 shots in the home loss for the Stars. On the power play, Lincoln went two-for-five, while the Lumberjacks went empty on five opportunities for the game. Muskegon’s offense was led by Iacopelli and Jobst with a goal and an assist each, and Lincoln was led offensively by Zach Frye with a goal and an assist. The Lumberjacks earn their first victory in five tries all-time against the Stars.
The Lumberjacks will conclude their two-game Nebraska road trip with a 6:05 pm puck drop tomorrow night against the Omaha Lancers.
The team’s next home game will be on Saturday, November 2nd against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders at 7:15 pm that includes Try Hockey for Free Day along with the return of our Subway Saturday promotion. If the Lumberjacks beat the RoughRiders, fans can redeem their ticket stubs at any participating Subway location for a buy one six-inch sub, get another six-inch sub of equal or lesser value for free.
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.
