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 Muskegon Lumberjacks

Recap: Lumberjacks Secure Three-Goal Second Period to Slash Past Dubuque

January 31, 2015 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Muskegon Lumberjacks News Release


MUSKEGON, Michigan (January 31st) - With second place in the Eastern Conference on the line, the Muskegon Lumberjacks and Dubuque Fighting Saints battled in the backend of a two-game weekend series at the L.C. Walker Arena with the home team looking for a weekend split. In a physical contest that saw 29 penalties assessed resulting in 80 combined penalty minutes between both teams, the Lumberjacks used a three-goal second period and a two-point effort from Mark Petaccio to fend off a late Fighting Saints charge and capture a 3-2 victory to increase their hold on second place back to three points on third place Dubuque.

A physical first period saw a scoreless draw with the shots favoring the visiting Fighting Saints by a 16-9 margin. Dubuque went 0-for-5 on the power play, while Muskegon went 0-for-1. The Fighting Saints were assessed four penalties totaling eight minutes, and Muskegon was called for five minors accumulating to 12 minutes in total.

Early in the second period, the Lumberjacks (24-12-3, 51 points) potted the game's first goal at the 3:09 mark as Griffen Molino fed a streaking Matheson Iacopelli between the faceoff circles in the Dubuque zone, and the Chicago Blackhawks prospect fired home his 16th goal of the season past the blocker of Jacob Nehama (17-6-4) to make it a 1-0 game. Matej Paulovic received a secondary helper on the goal.

A few minutes later at the 8:08 mark, Muskegon doubled its lead to 2-0 as a two-on-one opportunity led to Petaccio centering a feed to Trevor Hamilton in the slot, and the Penn State commit batted his seventh of the season out of midair and past Nehama's glove hand that was also set up by Eric Schierhorn.

As the game passed its halfway point, the host Lumberjacks continued to build on their lead extending it to 3-0 at the 12:50 mark courtesy of Petaccio finding a loose rebound to the left of Nehama off a shot from the left point fired by Christian Wolanin and stuffing home his second as a Lumberjack and 12th on the season. Tommy Marchin also aided on the Petaccio marker.

Muskegon secured their three-goal lead going into the second and final intermission with Dubuque still claiming the shot battle by a 28-18 spread.

Moments into the third period, the Fighting Saints (22-10-4, 48 points) took advantage of power play carry over time after a late second period penalty was given to Paulovic for slashing with 1:11 left as Nathan Sucese slid a shot from the right wing through traffic and past Eric Schierhorn (17-8-3) just 13 seconds in for his fifth of the season to cut the deficit to 3-1 that was assisted by Keegan Ford and Wyatt Ege.

Later in the final stanza, Muskegon ran into more penalty trouble leading to an eventual five-on-three man advantage opportunity in which Sucese struck gold again for his second of the night and sixth of the year redirecting a shot from the right point in the slot past Schierhorn to trim it to a 3-2 game with 11:48 remaining in regulation. Jacob Benson and Andrew Kerr helped on the man advantage tally.

The tight-knit affair remained the same score going into the waning moments of regulation when the Fighting Saints pulled Nehama for the extra attacker with 1:05 to go, but the defense for the host Lumberjacks stood firm the rest of the way in capping off the one goal victory at home. Dubuque outshot Muskegon for the night, 43-24.

Eric Schierhorn earned his 17th win of the season for Muskegon stopping 41 of 43 shots faced, while Jacob Nehama took the road loss with a 21-save effort. The Lumberjacks were led offensively by Mark Petaccio with a goal plus one assist followed by seven others contributing with a point each. Nathan Sucese led the Fighting Saints' offensive attack with a pair of power play goals and four others tallying a point to the cause. Matheson Iacopelli now slides into a tie with Tommy Marchin for the team lead in goals scored with 16. With an assist, Eric Schierhorn now has compiled two helpers on the season. Dubuque finished the game 2-for-9 on the power play, while Muskegon was 0-for-2. Muskegon improves to 2-1-0 against Dubuque this season with one regular season left between the two conference rivals happening on February 20th in Dubuque, Iowa.

The Lumberjacks finish up their six-game homestand next Friday, February 6th with a 7:15 pm tilt against the Youngstown Phantoms. Friday's game features Scout Night and signals the return of our $5 Fridays ticket promotion. For only $5, fans can purchase tickets in the Black Sections (103, 108, 113, 118). A limit of 500 tickets are available for the promotion.

To purchase tickets to Friday's game and take advantage of our discounted advance game day prices, fans can stop by the L.C. Walker Arena Box Office during the normal business hours of 10:00 am - 6:00 pm on Monday - Thursday or call (231) 724-5225. In addition, fans take advantage of our new Fantastic Five Special and updated Moose Family Four Pack good for any remaining 2014-15 regular season home game.

The Lumberjacks are on the radio waves as Nash Icon 92.5 FM is the team's flagship provider for the 2014-15 season. Tune in as the "Voice of the Lumberjacks" Bryan Fongers delivers the call beginning 15 minutes prior to the opening puck drop. All games can also be listened and watched live online at www.fasthockey.com.


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