ANN ARBOR, Mich – To conclude the month of March, the Muskegon Lumberjacks made the short turnaround trip to the Ann Arbor Ice Cube in Ann Arbor, Michigan to battle against the USTNDP Under-18 Team this afternoon. Looking for the three-game weekend sweep, the Lumberjacks used another strong power play compilation paired up with a solid goaltending outing from Michael Latorella in both regulation and extra time to stave off the Under-18’s by a 3-2 shootout decision after claiming the skills competition 2-1 in five rounds. With the victory, Muskegon earns its fifth consecutive victory overall while also claiming three in a row on the road.
The Lumberjacks (34-18-4, 72 points) found their way to the scoreboard first using the power play to its advantage at the 6:37 mark as Tommy Marchin wristed home his 23rd of the season from between the faceoff circles over the left pad of Luke Opilka (11-2-1) and into the back of net to make it a 1-0 game in favor of the visitors. Christian Wolanin and Mark Petaccio helped set up the tally.
Just 33 seconds later, the USNTDP Under-18 Team (24-29-3, 51 points) evened the game back up at 1-1 at the 7:10 mark courtesy of Auston Matthews redirecting a shot from the left point by Charles McAvoy past Latorella (9-5-0) for his 20th USHL tally and 44th overall on the season.
The tie game remained the same heading into the first intermission break with the Under-18 Team outshooting the Lumberjacks early on, 14-6.
In the opening minutes of the second, Muskegon regained the one goal advantage at 2-1 by the 3:09 mark back on the power play with Petaccio firing his 12th as a Lumberjack and 22nd overall on the season past Opilka from the high slot that was aided by Matheson Iacopelli.
The Lumberjacks’ slim advantage held firm throughout the remainder of the second as the Under-18 squad extended its shots on goal spread to 30-18 after slightly outshooting Muskegon during the middle 20 minutes of regulation, 16-12.
The defensive effort continued to hold strong for the visitors as the game steered into the waning minutes of regulation when the Under-18’s found the equalizer with 2:25 left to tie the game at 2-2 as a broken play led to Brendan Warren lifting a backhand in the low slot past a sliding Latorella on the short side for his seventh USHL tally and 17th overall on the year. Colin White and Jeremy Bracco assisted on the game-tying goal.
Shortly after, the game skated into a scoreless five-minute overtime session eventually leading to the shootout. The Under-18 Team claimed the shot battle for the game by a 48-24 margin after outshooting Muskegon during the third period and overtime frame, 18-6.
During the skills competition, the first three rounds saw no goals accounted for until Petaccio netted a fourth round marker before Bracco tied the shootout at 1-1 for the Under-18’s. In the fifth and decisive round, Wolanin roofed the eventual game-winning tally as the next shooter for the Under-18’s was Luke Kunin only to have his attempt shrugged off by Latorella’s left shoulder.
Michael Latorella earned his ninth victory of the season while improving to 4-0 in the shootout following a 46-save effort for the Lumberjacks that included stopping four of five Under-18 shootout attempts. Luke Opilka takes the shootout setback for the Under-18’s with a 22-save afternoon and allowing two goals on five Lumberjacks shooters faced during the skills competition. Muskegon was 2-for-5 on the power play, while the Under-18 Team finished the afternoon 0-for-4. Mark Petaccio led the offense being the lone player on both sides to amass more than one point on the afternoon with a goal plus an assist. Tommy Marchin has now tied Matheson Iacopelli for the team lead in goals scored with 23 on the season. In addition, Iacopelli is now one point shy of reaching 100 points for his USHL career. Muskegon’s power play has notched at least one man advantage marker in 10 out of the previous 11 contests. The Lumberjacks finish the 2014-15 regular season with a 2-2-0 record against the USNTDP Under-18 Team includes a 2-1-0 record at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.
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