Black Hawks Host Two Games This Weekend in Young Arena

The Waterloo Black Hawks will host two games this weekend inside Young Arena. Team USA comes to 'Party Town' for games on Friday and Saturday (Jan. 15-16, 2016). The puck drops at 7:05 PM both nights.

A Year Older:
The Black Hawks meet the Under-18 portion of the U.S. National Team Development Program at Young Arena this Friday and Saturday night. In 2014/15, Waterloo won a 5-1 contest on March 7th against the Team USA U-17s, who generally make up this season’s U-18 squad. Nick Swaney recorded a hat trick during that game in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while Cale Morris made 20 saves. This season, the U-18’s own a 10-3-0 record against United States Hockey League opponents.

Wait vs. Morris:
Black Hawks teammates Cale Morris and Garrett Wait faceoff on opposite sides of the USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game Tuesday evening at Ralston Arena in the Omaha suburbs. Morris is in net for Team East, while Wait will skate for Team West. Last weekend, Morris picked up his eighth win of the season with 26 saves during a 4-3 overtime decision against the Tri-City Storm. Wait has appeared in all but one Hawks game this winter, recording three goals and two assists.

Homestand Halfway:
Waterloo is midway through a sequence of four consecutive home games, a span which equals a November stretch for the longest homestand of 2015/16. Currently the Hawks are 1-1-0 after opening with two games against the Tri-City Storm last weekend. From November 7th through 20th, Waterloo went 3-0-1 at home. Forward Yuri Terao rode a hot streak through that sequence, recording four goals and four assists in four games. During the current homestand, Terao has four points in two games (one goal, three assists).

Penalty Shot Production:
Liam Pecararo was awarded – and converted – the first Black Hawks penalty shot of the season Saturday. He scored against Tri-City’s Dayton Rasmussen with 5:15 remaining during the third period, making the score 3-1 at that time. It was the first penalty shot Waterloo had attempted since Phil Beaulieu scored against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders during a 6-3 win on April 10th last season. The Hawks successfully defended the only penalty shot which their opponents have had this winter. That occurred on November 21st when Drew Hotte turned away an attempt by Brannon McManus of the Omaha Lancers.

Weekly Recap:
Opening a two-game set, the Tri-City Storm jumped ahead 3-0 during the first period last Friday, outdistancing the Black Hawks in a 6-3 affair. Waterloo’s Yuri Terao had a hand in all three Hawks goals, scoring one and assisting on the others. In Saturday’s rematch, Liam Pecararo had a three-point game (two goals, one assist), and Shane Bowers contributed the overtime winner during a 4-3 decision.