By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com
MUSKEGON – The Muskegon Lumberjacks had a much better result in their final tune up contest before the regular season begins.
After allowing seven goals Friday night in Chicago, the Lumberjacks responded with a 5-2 victory over the Steel to complete their four-game preseason with a solid 3-1 record.
The Lumberjacks will open the regular season with a pair of games in Pittsburgh starting next Saturday against the Omaha Lancers. Faceoff is slated for 12:30 p.m. Muskegon will also play the Dubuque Fighting Saints at 12:30 p.m. Sunday before returning home to face Team USA on Sept. 29 at Trinity Health Arena at a special 10:30 a.m. start time.
“We challenged our team in general to not be loose in certain situations,” said Lumberjacks coach Parker Burgess. “We felt it was important to clean up in certain areas.”
Sacha Boisvert was the star of the contest for the Jacks with a three-goal hat trick, while Ethan Whitcomb chipped in with a pair of assists.
“Sacha expects a lot out of himself,” Burgess said. “He is a very motivated young man, and we also have a lot of expectations for him, and he has done that so far in the three weeks during camp. It was great to see him get three tonight.”
Unlike Friday night’s eight-goal first period barrage by both teams, the opening period was scoreless with Muskegon killing off the lone power play.
The Steel had an 11-9 advantage in shots on goal during the first period.
The Jacks opened the scoring 54 seconds into the second period as Sacha Boisvert skated in front of the net and buried the puck in the net to give Muskegon a 1-0 lead.
Boisvert added another goal at the 4:13 mark of the second period, taking a pass from Hunter Anderson right in front of the net to give the Lumberjacks a 2-0 lead.
Muskegon continued its second-period onslaught 7:28 into the stanza as Justin Solovey took the puck at the blue line and broke through the defense and scored on a breakaway to give the Jacks a 3-0 advantage.
The Lumberjacks maintained their 3-0 lead heading into the second intermission while outshooting Chicago by a 24-15 margin.
The Steel cut the deficit to 3-1 at the 2:15 mark of the third period with a goal from Peyton Blair.
Muskegon responded 6:30 into the third stanza to take a 4-1 lead as Boisvert completed his three-goal hat trick.
The Lumberjacks added another goal at the 15:49 mark of the third period to take a 5-1 lead on a tally from Easton Young.
Chicago closed out the scoring with 2:51 remaining in the contest with a goal by Matej Teply.
The Lumberjacks outshot Chicago by a 28-21 margin and killed all three of Chicago’s power plays.
Paxton Geisel stopped all 12 shots faced in net for Muskegon, while Lukas Swedin stopped 3-of-5 shots faced in relief.
“I like our group of people,” said Burgess of his squad heading into the regular season. “It’s a fun group that is competitive and it is a lot of fun to be around. Anytime you want to accomplish something special, it takes great people and I think we have that this year.”
Photos shot by Sondra Workman.
