Men's Ice Hockey 12/2/2022 11:56:00 PM Steve Gunn/MuskegonSports.com

Jacks rally twice to force overtime, but fall to Chicago 4-3 in opener of two-game series

Muskegon scored twice in the final three minutes of regulation to force the extra period

The Muskegon Lumberjacks refused to say die again on Friday, even against the high-flying Chicago Steel.

The Jacks, who have specialized in coming from behind all season, overcame two deficits to tie the game and force it to overtime.

In the end they lost 4-3 when Jack Harvey, the USHL's leading scorer, found the net just 45 seconds into the OT period, but Muskegon walked away with a hard-earned one point in the standings.

The Lumberjacks dropped to 10-7-1 on the season. They have 21 points in the standings and are alone in fourth place in the USHL's Eastern Conference. Chicago, the first-place team in the conference, improved to 13-5-2.

The two teams will go at it again in Chicago on Saturday night, then the Jacks will visit Dubuque on Sunday.

Chicago led 1-0 after one period following a goal by Cameron Johnson at the 18:12 mark.

The Lumberjacks' Michael Callow scored his fourth goal of the season on a power play at 9:37 of the second period, with assists from Matthew Morden and George Fegaras, and the score was tied 1-1 headed into the third.

Chicago pulled ahead 3-1 with third-period goals from Harvey (his 17^th of the season) at 1:46 of the third and Michael Hagens the 5:29 mark.

The Lumberjacks pulled even again, collecting late goals from Ethan Whitcomb on a power play (his 10^th of the season) at the 17:04 mark and Jake Richard (also his 10^th of the season) at 18:14 to force overtime. Gavin McCarthy and Owen Mehlenbacher each had an assist on Whitcomb's goal.

The overtime period didn't last long, with Harvey nailing his 18^th goal less than a minute into play.

The Jacks outshot the Steel 35-30 and kept the home team scoreless on four power play opportunities. Muskegon scored twice on five power play chances.

Lumberjacks goalie Conor Callaghan stopped 27 of the 31shots he faced to take the hard-luck loss.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Ethan Whitcomb: F; 6' 4"; 5/13/2004

#6 George Fegaras: D; 6' 2"; 4/26/2004

#14 Gavin McCarthy: D; 6' 2"; 6/2/2005

#4 Matthew Morden: D; 6' 5"; 7/29/2004

#20 Michael Callow: F; 6' 4"; 1/15/2004

#29 Conor Callaghan: G; 5' 11"; 3/2/2003

Players Mentioned

#11 Ethan Whitcomb
: 6' 4"; 5/13/2004
: F

#6 George Fegaras
: 6' 2"; 4/26/2004
: D

#14 Gavin McCarthy
: 6' 2"; 6/2/2005
: D

#4 Matthew Morden
: 6' 5"; 7/29/2004
: D

#20 Michael Callow
: 6' 4"; 1/15/2004
: F

#29 Conor Callaghan
: 5' 11"; 3/2/2003
: G