LocalSportsJournal.com
It is a tall task to even defeat a talented Team USA Under-18 squad even a couple of times during the season.
But the Muskegon Lumberjacks did it three times in a span of four nights after
beating the 18’s 4-3 on Saturday night in Plymouth Michigan.
The Lumberjacks remain hot, winning 14 of their last 16 games. They are now 30-13-3 on the season, good for 63 points and second place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference.
Muskegon is four points behind the first place Chicago Steel and eight points ahead of third place Green Bay with eight games left in the regular season.
The Lumberjacks will close out their home portion of the schedule next week when they play the Dubuque Fighting Saints in a three-game series, starting Thursday night from the Mercy Health Arena. Faceoff slated for 7:10 p.m.
Muskegon opened the scoring at the 10:58 mark of the first period with a goal from Cameron Berg.
Team USA tied the game 1-1 with a goal from Red Savage 12:42 into the first period.
The Lumberjacks scored two goals during the second period to take a 3-1 lead heading into the third stanza.
Jack Williams made the score 2-1 in favor of Muskegon with a goal at the 9:20 mark, then Danil Gushchin added a tally 12:41 into the stanza.
The Lumberjacks increased their lead to 4-1 at the 1:01 mark of the third period on a goal from Dylan Wendt.
Team USA responded with goals from Liam Gilmartin (4:00) and Ty Gallagher (9:30) but failed to score the game tying goal.
Nate Reid stopped 18-of-21 shots on net for the Lumberjacks, who were outshot by a 21-17 margin.
