MUSKEGON, MI – There's no quit in the Muskegon Lumberjacks game, even despite trailing the Clark Cup Final 2-0 heading into Game 3 on Friday night. A pair of goals in quick succession late in regulation helped the Jacks force overtime, where Drew Stewart (Minnetonka, MN) scored his league-leading 9^th goal of the playoffs in double overtime, helping the Jacks to a 4-3 win over the Sioux Falls Stampede, forcing a Game 4 on Saturday night.
 
A broken play in the Lumberjacks zone led to the game's opening goal from Anthony Bongo. The puck bounced towards Bongo, who corralled it and fired a seeing-eye shot through traffic to the back of the net with ten and a half minutes to play in the first period.
 
The Lumberjacks were guilty of four minor penalties in the opening period, but didn't let the lopsided officiating hold them back from a tied game at the end of the first period. With 20 seconds to play in the opening frame, Carter Amico (Westbrook, ME) kept the puck in the offensive zone on the near side of the blue line and forced it to Melvin Novotny (Stockholm, SWE) in the corner. Novotny carried the puck towards the back of the net and popped a pass to Niles Benson (Tampa, FL) in the low slot for a grade A scoring chance. Benson got the puck over the pad of the goalie for his 5^th goal of the playoffs, tying the score 1-1 before the buzzer.
 
Two goals came in the second period for the Stampede. The first came off the stick of Thomas Zocco, who carried the puck into the Muskegon zone on a breakaway. Just 1:48 into the period, Zocco put a shot halfway up the far side of the goal to give the Stampede a 2-1 lead. Halfway through the period, Cooper Soller redirected a shot to the back of the net for his first goal of the playoffs to make it 3-1 Stampede.
 
It took the Lumberjacks 16 minutes of the third period to find the back of the net, but once they got their first, it was just a minute and a half before they tied the game with another. Both goals were set up by faceoff wins from Stewart on the far side of the Sioux Falls zone. On the first goal, Stewart won the faceoff to Benson, who slid the puck back to Adam Beluško (Kosice, SVK) at the blue line. Beluško sent a pass across the slot to Novotny for a one-timer that was directed off a Stampede defender to the back of the net.
 
The second goal came with two and a half minutes left in regulation. Again, Stewart won the faceoff to Benson in the inside trigger position. Rather than passing the puck, Benson turned and fired a shot along the ice. The puck reached Amico at the top of the crease, where the defenseman tapped it across the goal line to tie the game.
 
Following a scoreless 20-minute overtime period, the teams made their way back onto the ice for the fifth period of hockey. Only 2:09 came off the clock before Stewart gave the Jacks a 4-3 win. Louis Jonerheim (Lund, SWE) carried the puck up the far wall and sent a shot on net that was turned aside. The rebound found Stewart's stick in the low slot and was hammered to the top corner of the net to end the game.
 
Carl Axelsson (Danderyd, SWE) (9-6) earned the win on his playoff record with 32 saves on 35 shots faced. Linards Feldbergs (8-5) earned the loss on his record despite turning aside 51 of the 55 shots he faced.
 
Game 4 of the Clark Cup Final comes Saturday Night at Trinity Health Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 pm. Tickets can be purchased at muskegonlumberjacks.com or at the VanDyke Mortgage Convention Center Box Office starting at 12 o'clock noon.