Waterloo blanked Fargo on Friday night...then lose a close one to the "Force" on Saturday night. The team is currently tied for 2nd place with Sioux Falls at 66 pts...a full nine points behind 1st place Tri-City.

SATURDAY NIGHT VS FARGO
Two first period goals were enough to nudge the Fargo Force to a 2-1 win over the Black Hawks Saturday at Scheels Arena. Jeremy Davidson scored both Fargo goals. The first came at 3:28, when Davidson swatted it over Evan Fear’s left shoulder. He scored again during a power play at 11:27. Davidson tipped Justin Lee’s one-timer through traffic.

His second goal broke a 1-1 tie, established when Matej Blumel recorded the only Waterloo tally at 5:38. Emil Ohrvall steamed into the offensive zone on an odd-man rush. His centering pass was blocked but came right back to him, and Ohrvall’s second attempt connected with Blumel, who beat Ryan Bischel low to the netminder’s glove side. Bischel and Fear each stopped everything sent their direction during the second and third periods. Both finished the game with 30 saves as the Force out-shot the Hawks 32-31.

FRIDAY NIGHT VS FARGO
The Fargo Force out-shot Waterloo in all three periods, but couldn’t put anything between the pipes as the Black Hawks prevailed 2-0 at Scheels Arena on Friday. The final shot count favored Fargo 36-17. The Force had double-digit shots during each 20-minute segment; Waterloo had no more than six in any frame. However Evan Fear and Logan Stein turned everything aside. Fear started, but just 16 seconds into the game, a collision in the crease sent Fear to the bench shaken up as the Force went to a power play. Stein took the net to turn away a pair of power play looks. Then Fear was able to continue, and he returned to the ice after the teams returned to even strength.

The shutout was the Black Hawks’ sixth of the season. All of them have come since New Year’s Eve. Waterloo’s total ties a club record for shutouts in a season.

Fargo had an 11-5 shots advantage during the first period, but the Black Hawks had the only one that mattered, when Emil Ohrvall lifted his shot over the Fargo net-minder. The Force took 11 shots to Waterloo’s five in the second. The count was 14-6 in the third. However, the Black Hawks edged farther away with 8:52 remaining. Griffin Ness handed off a pass to Patrick Guzzo who came flying through the neutral zone. Guzzo got defenseman Justin Lee turned around and lifted a shot toward the net from the right circle. It hit Lee’s stick, deflecting up and over the goalie's shoulder.

Fear Gives Favorable Performances
Since being acquired in early February, Waterloo goaltender Evan Fear has given the Black Hawks a chance to win every game in which he has appeared, and Monday the United States Hockey League named him "Goaltender of the Week" for the fourth time in 2018/19.

On Friday, Fear was shaken up just 16 seconds into the game and went to the bench briefly. Returning to the ice a little more than two minutes into the period, he went on to make a total of 34 saves for the victory. Saturday, he was able to extend his shutout streak to more than 170 consecutive minutes before the Force scored 3:28 into the game. Fargo added another goal and prevailed 2-1. Fear made 30 saves Saturday to go 64-of-66 (.970 save percentage) for the weekend.

In five appearances for the Black Hawks, the Winnetka, Illinois, native is 3-2-0. His goals-against average is a sparkling 0.92, and his save percentage stands at .967. Fear’s only loss as a Black Hawk prior to Saturday was also by a 2-1 score during his February 16th team debut against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.

All three goaltenders who have taken the crease for the Black Hawks this season have now won a USHL Goaltender of the Week Award. Logan Stein claimed the honor a little more than a month ago on January 28th. Jared Moe won it the week prior on January 21st. Together, the group is responsible for a club record-tying six shutouts in 2018/19.

Fear was a three-time USHL Goaltender of the Week while he was a member of the Green Bay Gamblers earlier this season. The Quinnipiac recruit was recognized on October 22nd, December 10th, and December 31st. Including his time in Green Bay, Fear is 13-11-4 this season with a 2.94 goals-against average and .909 save percentage.

BACK IN PARTYTOWN THIS WEEKEND
Now more than halfway through a sequence of eight consecutive games against opponents from the USHL Western Conference, the Black Hawks come home to host the Des Moines Buccaneers on Friday at 7:05 p.m. Then, Waterloo takes on Sioux Falls on Saturday night. For tickets, call the Black Hawks Box Office at (319) 232-3444.

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