LocalSportsJournal.com

After dominating opponents for most of the past two months, the Muskegon Lumberjacks suddenly have a two-game losing streak.

The Jacks dropped a 6-2 decision to the Chicago Steel on Friday in Illinois, which comes on the heels of a loss to Team USA on Monday. Before Friday, Muskegon had not lost two in a row since Nov. 22.

The loss dropped the Lumberjacks’ record to 15-14-2, good for 32 points in the standings. They are in fifth place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference , five points behind first-place Team USA.

Muskegon will travel to Waterloo to take on the Black Hawks on Saturday night.

The Jacks started out strong in Chicago, taking a 1-0 lead in the first period on a goal by Marc Del Gaizo. But the Steel struck back with three goals in the first from Robert Mastrosimone, Baker Shore and Derek Daschke.

The Steel added two more goals in the second period, from Blake McLaughlin and Shore, to take a 5-1 lead.

The teams traded goals in the third period. Mikael Hakkarainen scored for Muskegon and McLaughlin found the net again for Chicago.

Muskegon goalie Keegan Karki had a rough outing, stopping only 7 of 12 shots before being pulled midway through the second period. The Jacks’ new backup goalie, Zach Burgiel, finished the game and stopped six of seven shots.

The Lumberjacks outshot the Steel 22-19.