YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Looking to regain the series lead before heading back to the L.C. Walker Arena for Game 4 on Monday night, the Muskegon Lumberjacks searched for a weekend split at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio during Game 3 of the best-of-five Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Youngstown Phantoms. A tight defensive affair eventually needed two overtime frames to settle the score until the Lumberjacks found a way late in double overtime to take a 2-1 series lead as a redirect from Will Graber propelled Muskegon to 2-1 win on the road. 
The first two periods of regulation featured a scoreless draw and goaltending showdown between Eric Schierhorn (2-1) and Colin DeAugustine (1-1) with the Lumberjacks slightly outshooting the Phantoms by a 19-17 margin. Both teams were 0-for-3 on the man advantage.
Moments into the third, the Phantoms captured the game’s first goal 32 seconds in as a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle by Vas Kolias (2) found its way over the glove of Schierhorn and inside the left post to give the hosts a 1-0 lead that was helped by Tyler Sheehy and Ryan Lomberg.
Youngstown continued to hang on to its one shot lead until the Lumberjacks scored the game-tying goal with 7:56 remaining in regulation as an odd man rush opportunity led to Mark Petaccio feeding a streaking Matheson Iacopelli (4) on the backdoor, who went on to bury it into the open net past an outstretched DeAugustine.
The tie game remained the same heading into the overtime sessions with Muskegon hanging on to the shot battle by the slimmest of margins at 27-26.
Following a scoreless first overtime, a second overtime frame was needed when Graber (1) notched the game-winner with 5:13 left in the fifth period redirecting a shot from the right point by Joseph Cecconi in the low slot off the inside of the right post and into the back of the net to cap off the road victory. Muskegon outshot Youngstown for the game, 47-45.
Eric Schierhorn picked up his second victory of the playoffs following a 44-save night for the Lumberjacks, while Colin DeAugustine took the home defeat stopping 45 of 47 shots faced for the Phantoms. Muskegon finished 0-for-4 on the power play, while Youngstown went 0-for-6. Matheson Iacopelli leads the Lumberjacks with five playoff points (four goals, one assist) through three games. Kyle Connor and Vas Kolias both spearhead the Phantoms offensive attack with a goal plus three assists. Muskegon earns its first road playoff victory since the 2011 Clark Cup Playoffs on April 15th and 16th against the USNTDP Under-17 Team at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube.
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