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Muskegon Lumberjacks

Three Lumberjack Veterans Notch Goals as Comeback Attempt Falls Shy in Chicago

February 21, 2015 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Muskegon Lumberjacks News Release


BENSENVILLE, Illinois - Before heading back to the L.C. Walker Arena for two home games next weekend, the Muskegon Lumberjacks had its sights set on finishing their five-game road swing above the .500 mark concluding the trip tonight at The Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville, Illinois against the Chicago Steel. Like the night prior, the third period did the visiting Lumberjacks in as a 2-2 game through two periods saw the host Steel notch a three-goal third period and hold off a furious late Lumberjacks comeback attempt in securing a 5-3 win on home ice to capture a fourth consecutive victory.

The beginning of the game saw no goals tallied through the first half of the opening frame until the Steel (21-19-3, 45 points) won the race to the scoreboard grabbing an early 1-0 lead at the 13:14 mark as Jake Bresser slipped a shot between the faceoff circles through the five-hole of Michael Latorella (8-4-0) for his first career USHL goal that was set up by Brendon Kearney.

Just under two minutes later at the 15:02 mark, the Lumberjacks (26-16-3, 55 points) countered to even the contest at 1-1 courtesy of a long range blast from Matheson Iacopelli one-timing his 17th goal of the season from the just outside the right faceoff circle past Lassi Yrjola (9-4-1) that was aided by Trevor Hamilton and Max Humitz.

The tie score remained the same going into the first intermission with the Lumberjacks slightly outshooting the Steel by a 12-11 margin. Both teams were 0-for-1 on the power play.

Right before the game hit the halfway point, Muskegon snatched their first lead of the evening at 2-1 by the 9:27 mark as a Chicago turnover in its own zone led to Robbie DeMontis feeding an open Mark Petaccio between the faceoff circles, and the New Jersey native buried his sixth as a Lumberjack and 16th overall on the season past Yrjola's left pad to make it a 2-1 game. Jack Rowe also assisted on the tally.

As the middle stanza was winding down, the Steel tallied the game-tying goal with 4:00 remaining as Kearney found a loose rebound to the right of Latorella following a shot fired from the left point by Zach Osburn, and the Michigan native backhanded his 12th of the year into the open net to even the game at 2-2. Frederik Olofsson received the secondary helper on the goal.

Like the first period, the game skated into the second intermission an even hockey game with Muskegon extending its shots on goal lead to 32-26 after outshooting Chicago during the middle frame, 20-15.

Early in the third after Muskegon used its only timeout of the game, the home team grabbed their lead back at 3-2 by the 2:06 mark following a faceoff win with Tanner Laczynski finding a loose rebound in front and steering home his tenth marker of the season that was helped by Charlie Raith and Ryan Blankemeier.

Chicago used the quick third period strike to their advantage eventually doubling the spread to 4-2 at the 10:07 mark with Olofsson redirecting a centering feed by John Ernsting past Latorella's glove hand while crashing into the blue paint for his team-leading 20th of the year.

With time trickling down, Muskegon refused to go away without a fight cutting the deficit to 4-3 with 3:28 to go as Tommy Marchin retrieved a loose puck in the left faceoff circle and rifled his team-leading 18th of the season top shelf over Yrjola's left shoulder that went unassisted.

The Lumberjacks went on to pull Latorella for the extra attacker with under a minute remaining in regulation but could not find the equalizing goal as Olofsson potted an empty net marker with just over 31 seconds left for his second of the night and 21st on the season to cap off the night offensively for both sides and complete the two-goal home victory. Mason Bergh assisted on the goal. Muskegon outshot Chicago for the game, 47-38.

Lassi Yrjola stopped 44 of 47 shots for the Steel to pick up his ninth win of the season in net. Michael Latorella took the road loss for the Lumberjacks following a 33-save effort. Frederik Olofsson spearheaded Chicago's offensive attack with a pair of goals plus an assist followed by Brendon Kearney contributing to the cause with a goal plus one assist. Six Lumberjacks recorded a point offensively during the game. Muskegon finished 0-for-3 on the power play, while Chicago was 0-for-2. The Lumberjacks complete the five-game road trip with a record of 2-3-0 while falling to 2-3-0 against the Steel this season with one regular season meeting left between the two lakeshore rivals back at The Edge Ice Arena on Friday, March 13th.

The Lumberjacks return to the L.C. Walker Arena next weekend on Friday, February 27th and Saturday, February 28th against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders at 7:15 pm, respectively.

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