Black Hawks Climb in Standings with Third Weekend Win

The Waterloo Black Hawks used three weekend wins to vault up the United State Hockey League standings. The Black Hawks jumped up from a sixth place tie in the USHL Western Conference up to within one point of third place.

The first win came Friday on the road with a 5-2 win over the Sioux Falls Stampede. On Saturday, The same two teams met in Waterloo, and the Black Hawks took the 4-1 win. On Sunday afternoon, Waterloo grabbed their third win of the weekend thanks to a 5-2 road victory against the Sioux City Musketeers.

Captain Ronnie Hein recorded the first goal of the afternoon 3:06 into the first period, but had to leave the game at the same point. Hein redirected a Nick Swaney pass into the net before careening into the goalpost. Initially ruled “no goal,” the call was changed after a video review.

Shane Bowers’ puck handling made the score 2-0. Steering behind then net, then into the left circle, Bowers fed the disc into the crease where it deflected into the net off a defender. Sioux City drew within one on a power play less than a minute later. When the puck came out of the right wing corner, Jake Ryczek was left one-on-one against Cale Morris and snapped a wrist shot between the pipes.

With 1:29 left before intermission, the Hawks’ Liam Pecararo navigated through traffic to the net to reestablish a two-goal lead. Pecararo baited goalie Cam Gornet into lunging to his right; the Hawks’ forward then pulled the puck to his backhand and slipped it in.

Sioux City scored the only goal of the second, 1:18 into the period.  Mitch Fossier stepped into the zone and wristed a shot off the crossbar, down, and in.

Bowers firmed the Black Hawks lead 9:36 into the third period, completing a pretty give-and-go passing play with Marshall Moise at top speed. David Cotton added the first Hawks shorthanded goal of the season with 2:31 to play, from his own zone into an empty net.

NEXT UP: The Black Hawks complete a sequence of six games against Western Conference opponents by visiting the Des Moines Buccaneers Friday.