DUBUQUE, IA – The final night of the 2025-26 regular season came on Saturday night as the USHL featured a full slate of games around the league. With playoff seeds already locked up for the Muskegon Lumberjacks (36-24-1-1, 74 pts.) and Dubuque Fighting Saints (40-18-4-0, 84 pts.), the teams took to the ice at ImOn Arena looking to end on the right foot before the postseason.
 
Just over halfway through the first period, the Fighting Saints took a 1-0 lead. Teddy Merrill tapped the puck past a Lumberjacks defender while streaking through the neutral zone, leading to a 2-on-1 rush into the Muskegon end. Merrill sent a pass across the slot to Melvin Eckman on the backdoor for an easy tap-in goal, his 22^nd of the season.
 
A combined six goals came in the second period between the two teams, starting with a pair in quick succession by the Lumberjacks, who tied the game just 21 seconds into the frame. Chuck Blanchard (West Hartford, CT) took possession down to the far side corner of the Dubuque zone and took a big hit while he wrapped the puck around the wall. Jack Christ (Chaska, MN) picked up the puck at the hashmarks and fired a shot along the ice that banked off a skate and to the back of the net for his 16^th goal of the season.
 
Less than a minute and a half later, the Jacks took a 2-1 lead. This time, Gus Thorp (Chippewa Falls, WI) kept the puck in the offensive zone on the far side of the slot and ripped a shot to the near corner of the net for his first career USHL goal.
 
The next three goals belonged to the Saints to tie the game, take the lead, and extend it. The first goal came at the 3:33 mark on a quirky play that saw Niles Benson (Tampa, FL) appear to make a save on the goal line, but following a video review, the officials awarded Eckman his second goal of the game.
 
Colin Frank gave the Saints their lead back with his 33^rd goal of the year by pick-pocketing a Lumberjack in the middle of the Muskegon zone and working in on the goal before lifting a backhand shot to the top of the net.
 
44 seconds later, at the 9:46 mark of the frame, Hudson Lohse scored his first career USHL goal by ripping a shot to the back of the net. It was the last shot Will Keane (West Bloomfield, MI) faced before being replaced by Samuel Doyon-Cataquiz (Montreal, QC, CAN).
 
An Auto Owners Insurance power play in the final 5 minutes of the period gave the Lumberjacks an opportunity to bring the score back to within a single goal before the second intermission. Viktor Norringer (Kungsbacka, SWE) ripped a rocket ship of a shot into the top corner of the net for his 24^th goal of the year, setting up an obtainable comeback in the third period.
 
Unfortunately for the Lumberjacks, their comeback effort was met by a trio of goals by the Saints. First, Caden Dabrowski scored his second goal of the weekend, 15th of the season, with a wicked one-timer from the far side of the ice after a perfect cross-ice pass from Michael Barron just 2:06 into the period.
 
Eetu Orpana made it 6-3 at the 13:42 mark with his 15^th goal of the season after a bouncing puck in front of the Lumberjacks goal found its way onto his stick with an open net to shoot at. The same story came at the 16:58 mark when Xavier Lieb found the back of the net, giving the Saints the final score of 7-3.
 
The Lumberjacks close the book on the regular season and prepare for the 2026 Clark Cup Playoffs, starting with a first-round matchup against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. All games will be played at ImOn Ice Arena.
 
Game One: Friday, April 10^th, 8:05 pm ET
Game Two: Saturday, April 11^th, 8:05 pm ET
Game Three: Sunday, April 12^th, 5:05 ET *If Necessary