Jakub Altrichter goals came at the beginning and the end of a 5-4 Waterloo Black Hawks overtime win against the Chicago Steel on Saturday night at Young Arena.
The matchup between the teams was delayed a day by a winter storm which passed through the region on Friday. When the puck finally dropped, Waterloo never trailed but could not pull away from Chicago either, despite a big disparity in scoring chances. The Hawks outshot the visitors 43-22.
Waterloo controlled the puck during all 55 seconds of overtime, beginning with Altrichter's faceoff win to Griffin Erdman. Both forwards had opportunities before the winning goal was scored; Altrichter was handcuffed by a centering feed and Erdman missed the net. However, Nick Fascia collected a long bounce off the end wall, allowing the Hawks to regroup at center. Altrichter made the most of a second chance, taking Fascia's pass and firing a shot from the top of the right circle. The puck hit the crossbar before landing inside the cage behind goalie Louka Cloutier.
Waterloo had jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first period. The opening goal came from Altrichter at 7:31 on the redirection of a shot from the left point by Landon Nycz. The Hawks added to the lead during a power play almost three minutes later. Gavyn Thoreson sent a pass from circle to circle, and Gavin Lindberg reversed it across the slot the other direction. That left Myles Hilman waiting at the edge of the crease to bang in the chance.
Chicago drew a goal back 26 seconds later. Ben Yurchuk started behind the Waterloo net but dropped a feed back to Kolin Sisson waiting in the left circle. Sisson scored into an open side. Charlie Major tied the game at 13:33, capitalizing from the slot after Joey DelGreco's takeaway and centering setup.
Hilman added one more before the period ended to put the Hawks back in the lead at 16:54. His shot from the left point hit the post, then the back of Cloutier before rolling across the goal line.
The teams exchanged goals in the second. Tyler Miller bulled his way from the corner to the side of the net. His shot was blocked, but Thoreson was there to put in the rebound at 2:16.
The Steel drew back within one at 5:29. Hudson Gorski's try from the left point was tipped in by DelGreco.
Chicago produced the final goal of regulation 4:10 into the third. Sisson moved the puck to the side of the net, setting up Ben Wilmott from close range. The game tightened up during the remaining minutes. In the third period, Waterloo and Chicago combined for 13 total shots. The Hawks had more shots than that by themselves in each of the first two periods.
Waterloo is scheduled for in-state road games next weekend against the Des Moines Buccaneers and Cedar Rapids RoughRiders.
Chicago 2 1 1 0 - 4
Waterloo 3 1 0 1 - 5
1st Period-1, Waterloo, Altrichter 6 (Nycz, Zlnka), 7:31. 2, Waterloo, Hilman 9 (Lindberg, Thoreson), 10:23 (PP). 3, Chicago, Sisson 7 (Yurchuk, Williams), 10:49. 4, Chicago, Major 14 (DelGreco), 13:33. 5, Waterloo, Hilman 10 (Miller, Brown), 16:56. Penalties-Williams Chi (boarding), 1:08; Hady Chi (high sticking), 2:45; Hady Chi (roughing), 8:07; Morich Wat (roughing), 8:07; Cardilli Chi (bench minor-too many men), 9:10.
2nd Period-6, Waterloo, Thoreson 7 (Miller, Townsend), 2:16. 7, Chicago, DelGreco 12 (Gorski, Thompson), 5:29. Penalties-Deering Wat (roughing), 9:49; Lindberg Wat (interference), 19:57.
3rd Period-8, Chicago, Wilmott 2 (Sisson, Cardilli), 4:10. Penalties-No Penalties
1st OT Period-9, Waterloo, Altrichter 7 (Fascia, Erdman), 0:55. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Chicago 8-8-6-0-22. Waterloo 17-18-7-1-43.
Power Play Opportunities-Chicago 0 / 2; Waterloo 1 / 3.
Goalies-Chicago, Cloutier 3-8-1-1 (43 shots-38 saves). Waterloo, Spicer 5-6-0-0 (22 shots-18 saves).
A-2,284
