Black Hawks Tie Record Beating Lumberjacks, 5-1

The Waterloo Black Hawks scored five unanswered goals Friday and topped the Muskegon Lumberjacks 5-1 at Young Arena, equaling a 28-year-old United States Hockey League mark for consecutive games without a regulation loss.

Going 19-0-1 in the subsequent months, Waterloo has now equaled the 1985/86 and 1986/87 Rochester Mustangs, who also earned at least one standings point from 20 consecutive regular season contests.

The Hawks outshot the Lumberjacks 26-3 during the opening period, but only one chance went in for each team. Matt Iacopelli took a Trevor Morbeck pass and converted a two-on-one rush at 5:31 to nudge the visitors ahead. Five minutes later, Peter Krieger was the beneficiary of a bouncing puck when Patrick Russell redirected Brandon Montour’s shot. The disk came to Krieger with an open side, and he pushed it past Eric Schierhorn.

Waterloo didn’t take as many shots in the second period, but the Hawks did decisively seize control of the game. At 8:26, Drew Melanson swatted a loose puck into traffic at the front of the net and it caromed in off of a Lumberjack. Less than a minute later, Alec McCrea’s shot off the end wall bounced to Tim Lappin, who stuffed it inside the post at Schierhorn’s

right. Jake Horton added one more at 18:41, blasting a shorthanded one-timer to the top corner, set up by Montour.

Krieger added the final goal of the game 51 seconds into the third period, cutting across the slot before flipping in a backhander. The Lumberjacks out shot Waterloo 12-11 during the final period, but Cal Petersen stopped all of the visiting chances during the closing minutes and made 22 saves for his 22nd win of the season.

The Hawks have not been on the downside of a 60 minute score since falling to the National Team Development Program Under-18’s, 8-6, on November 22nd.

The Hawks wrap up the home weekend on Saturday with a matchup against the Sioux City Musketeers. The first 500 in attendance will receive a Black Hawks bottle koozie from BankIowa, and following the 7:05 contest, the team’s John Deere jerseys will be auctioned to benefit local youth hockey. Tickets for the matchup are available from the Domino’s Black Hawks Box Office at (319) 291-7680 or online from waterlooblackhawks.com.

For Friday's box score, please click on the link below:
http://ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=2235048