LocalSportsJournal.com

The Muskegon Lumberjacks dropped their third straight game with a 5-3 road loss to the Sioux Falls Stampede on Friday.

The Lumberjacks fell to 4-7-2 on the season. They are tied for last place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference. They will have a rematch with Sioux Falls on Saturday night.

Sioux Falls grabbed a 2-1 lead after one period with goals by Artem Ivanyuzhenkov and Nolan Walker. Emilio Petterson scored for Muskegon.

Ivanyuzhenkov scored again early in the second period to give the Stampede a 3-1 lead. The Lumberjacks roared back later in the second with goals from Matej Pekar and Anthony Del Gaizo to tie the score 3-3 after two periods.

Sioux Falls pulled ahead again with a goal from Adam Dawe at 7:16 of the third period, then sealed up the win with an empty-netter by Mitchell Mattson with seven seconds left in the game.

Sioux Falls scored twice on four power play opportunities, while the Jacks were 0-for-4 with a man advantage.

Muskegon outshot Sioux Falls 33-30. Lumberjacks goalie Keegan Karki stopped 26 shots in the losing effort.