LocalSportsJournal.com

A few weeks ago Muskegon Lumberjacks fans were wondering if this was going to be a long, ugly season.LSJ Logo incert

But three road games later, things are looking a heck of a lot better for the Jacks.

Last weekend Muskegon stole a pair of one-goal victories in Chicago and Bloomington, breaking a two-game losing streak.

Then on Friday the Jacks made it three in a row with a 4-1 victory over the Fargo Force at the Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota.

The two teams will meet again Saturday night in Fargo.

The Lumberjacks are now 5-6 on the season, good for 10 points and an eighth place tie with Chicago in the USHL’s Eastern Conference. They are eight points behind first place Dubuque.

“I am very proud of the guys winning their third road game in a row,” said Lumberjacks Coach Todd Krygier. “It wasn’t pretty but we found a way to win. (Goalie) Joey Daccord made a few excellent saves at the right times to give us a chance to win the game.

“Our team defense has improved significantly. Guys are taking pride in team defense and subsequently creating offense from good play without the puck. It’s been a lot of hard work to get to this point.”

Muskegon’s Max Humitz opened the scoring, notching his first goal of the season at the 3:35 mark of the first period. Matej Paulovic and Graham Lillibridge picked up the assists on the goal.

Fargo’s Zach Yon tied the score at 1-1 with a goal at the 13:17 mark of the second period.

The Lumberjacks responded one minute later with an unassisted goal from Rem Pitlick.

Matej Paulovic gave the Jacks a 3-1 lead with a goal at the 13:01 mark of the third period.  Chris Klack and Pitlick assisted on the goal.

The Jacks sealed the victory with an empty-net goal from Collin Adams with 1:41 left in regulation.

Daccord stopped 18 of 19 shots in the victory.