Black Hawks Beat Team USA (Dec 14)

The Waterloo Black Hawks scrambled back into Saturday’s matchup with a four-goal second period against the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-17 squad, winning a 6-4 decision at Young Arena.

Waterloo recorded the first eight shots on goal in the game and pulled ahead 10:49 into the first period when Patrick Russell caught a drop pass just inside the blue line and snapped a wrist shot past Luke Opilka.  The NTDP rallied to tie the score less than two minutes later; a centering feed found Colin White in the slot and he released a quick shot which hit
the net.  White struck again at with 44.2 seconds remaining before intermission, capping an odd-man rush in the midst of a five-on-three power play.

The wild second period which followed saw plenty of ebb and flow between the sides.  Team USA stretched their lead with a power play goal by Luke Kunin at 4:40, chasing starting goaltender Mathias Israelsson to the bench.

Waterloo sprang back into contention with three goals in a two-minute span, starting with Drew Melanson setting up Tyler Sheehy for a shot over the glove of Opilka at 9:37.  Just 86 seconds later, Brandon Montour found Sheehy in the slot, where the forward stickhandled the netminder down, before flipping in a backhanded shot.  On the ensuing shift, Peter Krieger connected with Liam Pecararo on a rush up ice, and Pecararo’s quick chance fluttered the net.

However, the Hawks were ahead 4-3 for just ten seconds before Dennis Yan stuffed a bouncing puck through Cal Petersen.  Waterloo got a reprieve and took a new lead to intermission thanks to a similar maneuver at the other end of the rink as John Wiitala jabbed the puck into the net on a partial breakaway.

For anyone hoping the fire-wagon scoring pace would continue into the third, the conclusion was anticlimactic. The only goal came with 9.9 seconds remaining when Zach Sanford stole the puck and fired it into an open net from center ice.  Petersen made a dozen stops in the third, on his way to a 21-save relief victory.

The Hawks return to the ice after the Christmas break to face the Chicago Steel on December 27th.  Tickets for the 7:05 contest are available online at waterlooblackhawks.com or by calling the Domino’s Black Hawks Box Office at (319) 291-7680.

For Saturday's box score, click on the link below:
http://ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=2234389