GREEN BAY, WI – Saturday night brought the fourth and final matchup of the 2025-26 regular season between the Muskegon Lumberjacks (25-12-0-1, 51 pts.) and Green Bay Gamblers (26-10-3-1, 56 pts.). Winners of each of the first three meetings, the Jacks looked for the season series sweep on Saturday night but dropped the contest 3-1 with hot goaltending on each side of the ice.
 
A lopsided first period in favor of the Gamblers saw just one shot get past Carl Axelsson (Danderyd, SWE) despite facing 14 of them in the opening frame. Defenseman Maceo Phillips took possession at the top of the Lumberjacks zone and fired a shot from his position on the blue line. On its way to the net, the puck was redirected towards the near bottom corner by Cruz Martin between the hashmarks. Martin's 3^rd goal of the season helped the Gamblers to a 1-0 lead through the first period of play.
 
A very disciplined game saw the Jacks provide Green Bay with zero power-play opportunities while the Jacks had 3 of their own. The third man advantage came 6 minutes into the second period when the Gamblers were caught with too many men on the ice. Drew Stewart (Minnetonka, MN) gave the puck to Jack Christ (Chaska, MN) in the near corner of the Green Bay zone. Christ carried the puck up the wall towards the blue line before sending a pass across the zone to Viktor Norringer (Kungsbacka, SWE) on the far side. Norringer caught the pass and wired a shot off the crossbar and in for his 10^th goal of the season and to tie the game 1-1.
 
Just over 2 minutes later, the Gamblers regained the lead, which they held all the way through the end of regulation. David Rozsival led a 2-on-1 rush into the Muskegon zone while on the far side of the ice. His shot wasn't the hardest in the world, but snuck just above Axelsson's pad and across the goal line to make it 2-1 in favor of the Gamblers.
 
Some late penalties sent both teams to the penalty boxes, allowing the Jacks to pull Axelsson and get a de facto power play with the extra attacker on the ice. While defending in his own zone, Zach Wooten read a cross-ice pass along the blue line and knocked the puck out of the zone before continuing down the ice and depositing it into the empty net, giving the Gamblers the winning score of 3-1.
 
Axelsson (19-7-0-0) did everything he could to put the Jacks in a positive position with 29 saves on 31 shots against, but earned the loss on his record. Roberto Henriquez (12-4-1-1) earned the win with 24 saves on 25 shots against.
 
Next week is a busy one for the Lumberjacks with a trio of road games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. First, the Jacks visit USA Hockey Arena on Friday night for a matchup against the USNTDP Under-18 Team. Then travel to Geneva, IL, for games on Saturday and Sunday against the Chicago Steel. For broadcast options and more information, visit muskegonlumberjacks.com.