KEARNEY, Nebraska (March 7th) – In another come from behind effort tonight, the Muskegon Lumberjacks were able to erase a two-goal deficit through two periods of play to storm back and leave the host Tri-City Storm in stunned silence as a big three-goal third period lifted the visitors to a 4-3 victory at the Viaero Event Center to snap out of a four-game road losing streak.

The majority of the first period saw a scoreless draw until the Lumberjacks (23-22-4, 50 points) drew first blood in the game with 1:44 to go in the opening frame as Christian Wolanin fired a slapper from the top of the slot past the glove side of Jacob Johansson (14-20-3) for his 4th as a Lumberjack and 5th of the season that was helped by Jack Rowe and Mason Jobst.

Under a minute later, the Storm (18-30-3, 39 points) took advantage of a fortunate deflection as a clearing attempt by Muskegon in their defensive zone hit off the boards awkwardly and kicked back to Daniel Fritz who fired a screen shot top shelf past the blocker of Schierhorn (14-14-1) for his 1st marker of the season that tied the game up at 1-1.

The game remained the same score going into the first intermission with Muskegon outshooting Tri-City through the first 20 minutes by a 13-9 margin.

The second period featured the host Storm notching a pair of goals within a span of 1:11 to quickly grab their first lead of the evening at 3-1 that began at the 7:35 mark as Daniel Labosky carried the puck into the Lumberjacks’ zone down the far side and ripped a wrist shot over Schierhorn’s glove hand for his 7th goal of the year that was assisted by Cody Milan.  Quickly after, Conner Valesano was found all alone on the backdoor to the left of Schierhorn and one-timed his 3rd goal as a member of the Storm and 11th of the season that was aided by Garrett Gamez and Austin Poganski.

No scoring was had for the remainder of the middle frame as Johansson stopped all 17 of Muskegon’s shots that came his way for Tri-City.  The Storm, on the other hand, had 10 shots for their own during the second period.

During the final 20 minutes, the Lumberjacks showed their resilience and poise to get back into the game cutting the deficit to 3-2 just 2:05 into the final frame as Chris Dodero potted his 4th goal as a Lumberjack and 5th overall on the season as his wrist shot from between the faceoff circles beat Johansson on the glove side that was helped by Cullen Hurley and Adam Larkin.

Minutes later at the 6:33 mark, the visitors evened the game at 3-3 as Larkin crept in from the left point and steered a wrist shot from between the faceoff dots over the glove of Johansson for his 2nd goal of the season that was assisted by Matej Paulovic and Dodero.

Muskegon continued to push and got their lead back at 4-3 by the 11:27 mark as Paulovic snapped a shot from the right faceoff circle past Johansson’s blocker for his 3rd marker of the season that was set up by Larkin and Dodero.  Following go ahead goal, the Lumberjacks had to fight off a late Tri-City charge as the hosts pulled Johansson for the extra attacker with 1:06 to go in regulation, but the defense stood tall and escaped with the one goal victory.

Muskegon outshot Tri-City on the night by a 42-32 margin as Eric Schierhorn picked up his third consecutive victory in net making 29 saves on the night.  Jacob Johansson took the loss for the Storm making 38 saves on the evening, and six different players tallied a point offensively for the home team.  The Lumberjacks were spearheaded offensively by Chris Dodero and Adam Larkin with one goal plus two assists each along with Matej Paulovic contributing with a goal plus one assist of his own.

Muskegon will conclude their two-game weekend series in Kearney, Nebraska against the Tri-City Storm tomorrow night at 8:05 pm.

Next weekend, the Lumberjacks will return home to host the Youngstown Phantoms for a pair of games on Friday, March 14th and Saturday, March 15th at 7:15 pm, respectively.

Friday’s game will feature 70’s Night presented M3 Financial Services and signals the return of our Flapjack Friday courtesy of the Muskegon Lions Club.  From when the doors open at 6:15 pm until 8:15 pm, fans can enjoy delicious all you can eat pancakes, sausage, and juice for only $5 located in the Party Deck.  Also, our “Jacks Win You Win” promotion returns, where if the Lumberjacks beat the Phantoms, every fan in attendance will receive a $5 Sport Clips gift card. 

Saturday’s game will feature Getaway to Ireland Night presented by Hennessey’s along with the return of Subway Saturday.  If the Lumberjacks defeat the Phantoms, fans that attend Saturday’s 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.

Individual game tickets will be on sale all next week 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 for Muskegon’s next pair of home contests.  Tickets can be purchased at the L.C. Walker Arena 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.  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.