LocalSportsJournal.com
The Muskegon Lumberjacks let in five straight goals on Thursday against the Under-18 Team USA squad resulting in a 9-3 loss in Plymouth.
The Jacks snapped their three-game winning streak and are now 15-10-2 on the season, good for 32 points and fifth place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference.
Muskegon will look to bounce back and close out the calendar year strong with a pair of home games against the Youngstown Phantoms. The first game will be Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at Trinity Health Arena.
The Lumberjacks trailed 2-1 after the first 20 minutes of play.
Lucas Van Vliet opened the scoring for Team USA 3:12 into the opening period, then Cody Croal tied the game up at the 5:14 mark before Brendan McMorrow ended the first stanza scoring 14:57 in.
Team USA held a 5-3 advantage through two periods of play.
Christian Humphreys scored on the power play for Team USA 35 seconds in before Ethan Whitcomb connected for the Jacks at the 2:47 mark of the middle period.
Team USA responded with a goal at the 9:13 mark of the second period from Shane Vansaghi.
The Jacks scored their last goal of the contest with a tally from Sacha Boisvert on the power play 10:33 into the second period.
Brodie Ziemer started the five-goal onslaught with a goal on the man advantage at the 17-minute mark of the middle stanza.
Team USA outscored the Lumberjacks by a 4-0 margin during the final 20 minutes of play.
Humphreys (4:55), Cole Eiserman (12:10), Vansaghi (15:25) and Teddy Stiga (15:45) each found the back of the net for the Team USA squad during the third period.
Team USA outshot the Lumberjacks by a large 44-14 margin as Beau Lane suffered the loss in net for Muskegon, stopping 35-of-44 shots faced.
