LINCOLN, NE – It's not often a team holds the Muskegon Lumberjacks (4-5-0-2, 10 pts.) off the board, but the Lincoln Stars (4-5-1-0, 9 pts.) did exactly that in a 3-0 final to start the two-game weekend series between the cross-conference opponents.
 
The Stars scored two power-play goals in the first period, both scored the same way. With just a few seconds left on the advantage, an opportunity came tight to the crease. The first came at the 14:45 mark from Jordan Johnson. A bouncing puck off a neutral-zone faceoff saw the Stars take possession in the Muskegon zone, and it ended up at the far post of the Lumberjacks' crease. Johnson met the puck and tapped it to the back of the net for his first goal of the season.
 
The second came off a redirection in the low slot with half a minute remaining in the opening period. Thomas Noll III fired a shot pass from the near boards off the stick of Casey Vandertop in the low slot. The puck deflected just over the pad of the goalie to make it 2-0 before the break.
 
In the second period, the Stars added another goal to carry a 3-0 lead into the final frame of regulation. With 11 seconds left in the 2nd, Sam Kline redirected a shot at the top of the crease into the back of the net despite falling to the ice.
 
No goals came in the third, and the Lumberjacks fell by way of a shutout for the second time this season. William Prowse (3-1-0-0) earned his league-leading third shutout of the season, while Oscar Westman (Stockholm, SWE) (3-3-0-1) stopped 23 of 26 shots, with no goal support in the loss.

Saturday night brings the second half of the weekend series and a chance for the Lumberjacks to build momentum before a mid-week matchup with the NTDP Under-17 Team. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 pm ET on FloHockey and the Lumberjacks Hockey Network, presented by Gray Supply Corp.