Nate Benoit scored in the last moments, and Miko Matikka was involved in four Waterloo Black Hawks goals Friday during a 6-5 win against the Sioux Falls Stampede at Denny Sanford Premier Center.

The Hawks led for much of the first period and into the second, but the Stampede tied the score before the second intermission.  The home team eventually led two separate times in the final frame.  By clawing back for the win, Waterloo retains second place in the USHL Western Conference by one point ahead of the Lincoln Stars.
 
By the time the game had reached the seven-minute mark, six minutes had been played on special teams, yet all the scoring in the first period happened while the teams were five-on-five.  At 8:03, Matikka gained control of the puck behind the Stampede net.  His feed clicked with Gavin O'Connell, who had time to pick his spot from the edge of the right circle and beat Xavier Medina under the crossbar.

Less than four minutes later, Gavyn Thoreson added to the lead thanks to a long, lofted pass by Ben Robertson.  Thoreson collected the bouncing puck near the blue line, split defenders, and slipped in a low shot at 11:46.

The second period began with a wild scoring flurry.  Sioux Falls started it when Chris Pelosi capitalized from close range at the 22-second mark on Sam Harris' pass across the slot.  Just 11 seconds later, O'Connell answered with his second of the game; Thoreson freed the puck with a check behind the Stampede net and Matikka pushed it into the slot for O'Connell to finish.

However Sioux Falls got the goal back at 1:04 when Isaac Gordon's shot through traffic found its way inside the post.  Then Jaksen Panzer tied it at 7:21 when the Hawks couldn't get the puck out of harms way near the front of the net.

The Stampede went ahead of the first time at 2:08 of the third as Gordon banged in the rebound of a Will McDonough shot which had drawn iron.  The 4-3 score held until Matikka hit the net at 9:08.  Coming up right wing on a two-on-one, the big winger took aim and scored on a low shot from near the faceoff dot.

Gordon gave the Stampede a final lead – 5-4 – at 12:12.  Panzer slipped a pass to Gordan, who clanked the crossbar.  However, the ricochet hit a defender and boomeranged back into the Hawks' net.

Another Black Hawk two-on-one brought the teams level one more time with just 4:22 to go.  Garrett Schifsky pulled the trigger from near the same spot where Matikka had scored.  This time Medina made the save, but the rebound came off of him right to Gavin Lindberg, who produced the tying score.

Benoit's winner came with 15.6 second left.  Thoreson had saved icing, with O'Connell and Matikka swooping into the corner to gain control of the puck and drop it back to the left point.  Benoit's shot from there appeared to change direction off a defender.

Waterloo outshot Sioux Falls, 33-25.  With the victory in net, Emmett Croteau tied Jared Moe at 37 career wins, which ranks fourth during the Hawks' junior era.

Friday's game in Sioux Falls was Waterloo's fourth straight on the road.  The Hawks are back home Saturday to host the Fargo Force at 6:05.  The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a Black Hawks skate-shaped beverage koozie, presented by Kwik Star.  For seats, call the Domino's Black Hawks Box Office or visit tickets.waterlooblackhawks.com.

Waterloo 2 1 3 - 6
Sioux Falls 0 3 2 - 5

1st Period-1, Waterloo, O'Connell 20 (Matikka), 8:03. 2, Waterloo, Thoreson 8   11:46. Penalties-Pionk Wat (holding), 0:29; Wiebusch Sf (slashing), 2:38; Klee Wat (boarding), 4:55.

2nd Period-3, Sioux Falls, Pelosi 13 (Harris, Fleming), 0:22. 4, Waterloo, O'Connell 21 (Hilman), 0:33. 5, Sioux Falls, Gordon 20 (McDonough), 1:04. 6, Sioux Falls, Panzer 13 (Gordon, McDonough), 7:21. Penalties-Gordon Sf (roughing), 1:46; Hong Wat (high sticking), 7:29.

3rd Period-7, Sioux Falls, Gordon 21 (McDonough), 2:08. 8, Waterloo, Matikka 27   9:08. 9, Sioux Falls, Gordon 22 (Panzer, McDonough), 12:12. 10, Waterloo, Lindberg 14 (Schifsky), 15:38. 11, Waterloo, Schumacher 1 (O'Connell), 19:45. Penalties-No Penalties

Shots on Goal-Waterloo 10-13-10-33. Sioux Falls 5-11-9-25.
Power Play Opportunities-Waterloo 0 / 2; Sioux Falls 0 / 3.
Goalies-Waterloo, Croteau 14-10-0-0 (25 shots-20 saves). Sioux Falls, Medina 14-17-3-0 (33 shots-27 saves).
A-3,388