MUSKEGON, Michigan (March 28th) – In a must-win situation to maintain their position within the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Muskegon Lumberjacks found a way in a shootout to earn a big two points in the standings as Matej Paulovic’s heroics gave the home team a 3-2 victory, 2-1 in the shootout, over the Omaha Lancers tonight at the L.C. Walker Arena.

In a first period that saw 32 total shots combined between the two teams, the Lumberjacks (28-24-4, 60 points) struck first at the 11:47 mark as Matt Iacopelli fed an open Trevor Morbeck to the right of Hayden Hawkey (21-6-2) in which he roofed his 14th goal of the season on the backhand over the glove side to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Before the opening frame expired, the Lancers (37-14-6) knotted the game even at 1-1 with 2:37 left as Jake Randolph found a loose rebound to the right of Eric Schierhorn (18-16-1) and slid his 24th marker of the season just inside the left post that was set up by Niklas Folin and Luca Frigo.

The up-and-down first period came to an end with Omaha outshooting Muskegon through the first 20 minutes by a slim 17-15 margin.

Early in the middle frame at the 2:24 mark, Joe Cecconi ripped a shot from just outside the left faceoff circle that deflected off the glove of Hawkey and into the back of the net for his 2nd goal of the season to give the hosts a 2-1 lead that was helped by Cooper Marody.

During the midway part of the second period, the Lumberjacks were on their first power play of the evening only to have the visiting Lancers tie the game up at 2-2 as a bad hop over the stick of Christian Wolanin in the corner found the stick of Brian Williams in which he lifted a shorthanded goal over the glove of Schierhorn for his 7th goal of the season that was aided by Ryan Tait.

The back-and-forth game went into the second and final intermission a tie score with Muskegon outshooting Omaha by a 12-5 margin during the middle 20 minutes.

The third period saw a goaltending clinic from both Schierhorn and Hawkey as neither team could find the back of the net leading to an extra four-on-four five-minute overtime session with the Lumberjacks outshooting the Lancers during the final 20 minutes by a 12-4 spread.  Just like the third period, the overtime frame saw no scoring as the Lumberjacks ended up outshooting the Lancers by a 41-29 margin for the game.

The skills competition saw a scoreless first round before Jack Rowe slid a forehand past the right pad of Hawkey to give Muskegon a 1-0 lead going into the third and final round.  With their backs against the wall, the Lancers got the equalizer from Ryan Tait as he slid a forehand through Schierhorn’s five-hole that eventually led to Paulovic’s game-winner as he shifted from forehand to backhand and lifted one over Hawkey’s right shoulder to give the hosts the extra point.

Eric Schierhorn earned the victory in net for Muskegon making 27 saves on the evening including two of three in the shootout, while Hayden Hawkey stopped 39 shots for Omaha in the road loss including one of three in the shootout.  Muskegon ends the regular season series splitting the two games against Omaha with the home teams holding serve.

The Lumberjacks will square off against another Western Conference foe tomorrow night at home in the Lincoln Stars at 7:15 pm.  Following tomorrow’s game, Muskegon will play another Sunday matinee game this time in Ann Arbor against the USNTDP Under-18 Team at 3:30 pm to conclude their second consecutive three-game weekend.

Tomorrow’s game will feature Reading Caravan Night sponsored by the Muskegon Lumberjacks Charitable Foundation and the return of our Subway Saturday promotion.  If the Lumberjacks defeat the Stars, 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.

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 final home game of the 2013-14 regular season next Saturday, April 5th against the Green Bay Gamblers at 7:15 pm.  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.