Sports stats



USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks

Late Dramatics from Scott Pooley Cools off Indiana at Home

February 1, 2014 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Muskegon Lumberjacks News Release


MUSKEGON, Michigan - In a tight and fierce battle between two Eastern Conference rivals tonight at the L.C. Walker Arena, the Muskegon Lumberjacks were able to salvage a weekend split between the two first place teams in each conference as Scott Pooley and Jordan Uhelski were able to come up with big nights on the offensive and defensive ends, respectively, to cool off a hot Indiana Ice team by a 2-1 final. With the win, the Lumberjacks give the Ice their first regulation loss for the 2014 calendar year and halt their unbeaten streak at ten games.

The Ice (24-7-6, 54 points) began the night getting on the board first at the 4:17 mark as Dwyer Tschantz received a centering feed from Denis Smirnov and tipped in his 13th goal of the season from the top of the goal crease under the right pad of Jordan Uhelski (8-7-3) to give the visitors a 1-0 lead that was also set up by Chris Martenet.

No scoring was had the rest of the way as Indiana took their one goal lead into the first intermission while outshooting the Lumberjacks by a 13-6 margin.

The game slid into the latter stages of the second period with the score remaining the same until the Lumberjacks (19-18-4, 42 points) evened the game up at 1-1 with 1:04 to go in the middle frame as a slap shot from Robbie DeMontis was initially saved by Jason Pawloski (19-5-5), but Scott Pooley found a loose rebound in the low slot and fired his 13th marker of the season home that was also assisted by Christian Wolanin.

The game would go into the final 20 minutes tied up with the visitors maintaining a stranglehold on shot advantage by a 32-15 margin.

The back-and-forth defensive battle ensued as Muskegon had to kill off a pair of penalties in the first five minutes of action to keep the game even, and they eventually got rewarded for their hard work on the defensive end as Chase Hatcher created a turnover at the Lumberjacks' blue line and split the Indiana defense leading to a breakaway opportunity, but found an open Pooley on the backdoor in which he slid his second of the night and 14th goal of the season under Pawloski's left pad to give the home team a lead that they never relinquished at 2-1.

As the game drew closer to the end, the Ice pulled Pawloski twice for the extra attacker within the last 90 seconds of regulation, but could not get the equalizer. Indiana outshot Muskegon for the game, 40-26.

Jordan Uhelski got the hard-earned victory in net for the Lumberjacks stopping 39 of 40 shots, while Jason Pawloski suffered the loss for the Ice making 24 saves of his own. Scott Pooley led the offensive charge with his pair of goals along with three other Lumberjacks chipping in with a point each. Muskegon evens the season series with Indiana at three wins each (3-3-0) with two more regular season meetings left between the two Eastern Conference foes.

The Lumberjacks will take to the road next weekend for one game against the Youngstown Phantoms on Friday, February 7th at 7:05 pm from the Covelli Centre.

Individual game tickets are on sale during the next two weeks for the low price of $10 for adults and $6 for children ages 3-12 for the Lumberjacks' next pair of home games on Friday, February 14th and Saturday, February 15th against the Youngstown Phantoms and Chicago Steel, respectively, 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.

Friday's game will feature "Love and Hockey" in honor of the Valentine's Day holiday along with the return of our "Jacks Win You Win" promotion. If the Lumberjacks beat the Phantoms, every fan in attendance will receive a $5 Sport Clips gift card.

Saturday's game will feature Red Wings Night and the return of our Subway Saturday promotion. If the Lumberjacks beat the Steel, fans that attend that 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.

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.

Check out the Muskegon Lumberjacks Statistics



United States Hockey League Stories from February 1, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central