CRANBERRY TWP, PA – On the back end of the Dick's Sporting Goods Fall Classic the Muskegon Lumberjacks (1-1-0) took on the Dubuque Fighting Saints (1-0-1) at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon. A 4 goal second period lifted the Fighting Saints to the 8-3 victory.
Back and forth first period started when Muskegon opened the scoring just 1:21 into the contest on the first goal of the season by
Cody Croal (North Branch, MN). Croal received a tap pass in the middle of the ice from
Joe Connor (Amherst, NH) which allowed him to work behind the defense and lift a backhand shot into the top corner of the net.
Easton Young (Grand Rapids, MN) picked up his first point of the year with the secondary assist on the zone exit.
Dubuque responded two and a half minutes at the 4:07 mark on a goal from Erik Pahlsson. The Jacks used a powerplay to respond and regain the lead 2-1. Young picked up his second assist of the game by sliding the puck to the top of the left hand circle and
Matvei Gridin (Kurgan, RUS). Gridin sent the puck to
Justin Solovey (Holmdel, NJ) at the goal line. Solovey worked towards the net, popped in front, and roofed the puck to the far side corner.
Again, Dubuque tied the game this time with a short handed goal at the 14:41 mark from Josh Giuliani. A late goal in the period for Colin Frank and the Fighting Saints gave them a 3-2 lead heading into the first intermission.
The second period belonged to the fighting saints with 4 unanswered goals to take a 7-2 lead into the third.
Paxton Geisel (Estevan, SK, CAN) entered the crease half way through the period in relief of Muskegon's starter
Lucas Szyszka (Westmont, IL). For Geisel it was his first action against the Fighting Saints since being traded to Muskegon over the offseason.
David Klee (Castle Rock, CO) got a goal back of the Jacks in the third period for his first tally of the season. The 6'3 power forward used his size in tight to the net to power home a shot with just under 8 minutes remaining in the game.
Szyszka (0-1) started the game for the Jacks lasting just over halfway through the 60 minutes. Thatcher Bernstein (1-0) stopped 20 of 23 shots fired by the Jacks to earn the win. The first win of the season for the Fighting Saints.
The Lumberjacks are back in action on Friday against the USNTDP Under-18 team at Trinity Health Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:30 am EDT for the annual Kids Day Game.
For tickets visit
www.muskegonlumberjacks.com or call the business office at 231.799.7000. Can't make it to the game? FloHockey the official live stream partner of the USHL has you covered. A free radio feed is also available on the Lumberjacks Hockey Network on Mixlr.
