Gavin O'Connell scored twice to lead the Waterloo Black Hawks to a 4-1 win against the Sioux City Musketeers Saturday at Young Arena.
The favorable decision tipped the season series in Waterloo's favor. As a result, the Hawks wrap up play against Western Conference foes having won all seven head-to-head series, including victories in four of six games versus the Musketeers. Saturday's win also keeps Waterloo second in the conference, one point ahead of the Lincoln Stars.
The Black Hawks outshot Sioux City 18-3 in the opening period and took a 2-0 lead to intermission. The first goal came at 8:08 as the result of a faceoff win in the left wing circle. The puck came to Ben Robertson at the opposite point, but he fed it quickly back to O'Connell who had won the draw. O'Connell put it in as goalie Croix Kochendorfer tried to track the back-and-forth puck movement.
Waterloo made it 2-0 with a power play conversion at 11:34. Caden Brown's circle-to-circle pass clicked with Aaron Pionk on right wing. He took a moment to size up his opportunity and flipped in a shot before Kochendorfer could lunge to his left.
Much of the second period was played with a 2-1 score. Emmett Croteau denied a Ben Doran breakaway six-and-a-half minutes into the period, but couldn't stop another at 8:34 when a turnover allowed Easton Zueger to spring Tyler Hotson for the lone Musketeers score.
However, Waterloo had a big finish before the period ended. Miko Matikka tipped Gavyn Thoreson's shot with 48.6 seconds left. Kochendorfer made the save, but O'Connell swooped in from the right wing to bang in the rebound. Then with under 10 seconds to go, the Musketeers gave up a puck inside the Hawks blue line. There was enough time for Garrett Schifsky to come up the ice. He gave a head-fake at speed, sending Kochendorfer off balance, and after that it was an easy tap-in for the Hawks' captain with 3.7 seconds left in the period. The goal was Schifsky's 100th USHL regular season point.
The score held through the remainder of the affair. Waterloo finished the game with 46 shots on goal to Sioux City's 17. With 16 saves, Croteau became just the third Hawks junior-era goaltender with 40 career wins, joining Cal Petersen and Matt DiGirolamo.
Just two games remain on the Black Hawks' 2022/23 schedule, both against the Dubuque Fighting Saints. Waterloo travels down Highway 20 to visit the Saints Friday before hosting a rematch next Saturday. Seats for the season finale are available from tickets.waterlooblackhawks.com or by calling the Domino's Black Hawks Box Office at (319) 291-7680.
Sioux City 0 1 0 - 1
Waterloo 2 2 0 - 4
1st Period-1, Waterloo, O'Connell 23 (Robertson, Thoreson), 8:08. 2, Waterloo, Pionk 12 (Brown, Rinzel), 11:34 (PP). Penalties-Doran Sc (slashing), 10:07.
2nd Period-3, Sioux City, Hotson 17 (Zueger), 8:34. 4, Waterloo, O'Connell 24 (Matikka, Thoreson), 19:11. 5, Waterloo, Schifsky 28 19:56. Penalties-No Penalties
3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Pionk Wat (interference), 3:30.
Shots on Goal-Sioux City 3-7-7-17. Waterloo 18-16-12-46.
Power Play Opportunities-Sioux City 0 / 1; Waterloo 1 / 1.
Goalies-Sioux City, Kochendorfer 11-12-1-3 (46 shots-42 saves). Waterloo, Croteau 17-10-0-0 (17 shots-16 saves).
A-3,230
