The Lincoln Stars held off the Waterloo Black Hawks Saturday during a 4-3 contest which turned tense before time ran out at the Ice Box.

Saturday's decision evens the best-of-five Western Conference Final series between the teams at one win apiece.  Waterloo had claimed Game One on Friday, 6-4.
 
The Stars briefly led Saturday's rematch by as many as four goals and were ahead by three for more than 44 minutes of game action.  Carter Casey was called to the Waterloo bench with less than five minutes to play; following a long extra attacker sequence in the offensive zone, Waterloo found the net six-on-five.  Dylan Compton set up a blast by Kaeden Hawkins from the right circle at 17:53.

Waterloo put the pressure back on as soon as Casey came back to the bench, however the game went into the final minute with Waterloo still down by two.  The Stars escaped the defensive zone but couldn't find the empty net.  Instead, Teddy Townsend came the other way and fed Brendan McMorrow for a score from close range as 21 seconds remained.

Lincoln held on despite late bids for a Black Hawks equalizer.

Yan Shostak made 28 saves in the Stars net.  Casey turned away 29 Lincoln attempts.

The home team had scored two quick goals in the early minutes of the first period.  Matthew Maltais capitalized on an odd-man rush, finishing a setup by Layne Loomer at the two-minute mark.  A minute and 27 seconds later, Lefty Markonidis raced up the rink to make it 2-0 with a shot under the crossbar.

Ethan Weber added one more at 12:55 of the period; his first shot was blocked, but the puck came right back to him, and he squeezed it between Carter Casey and the post at the goaltender's left.

Lincoln made it 4-0 at 5:17 of the third.  Alex Pelletier scored on a one-timer from the high slot, making the most of Daniel Shlaine's drop pass.

Just less than a minute later, Hunter Ramos put the Hawks on the board.  Ramos and McMorrow both looked ready for a change, but McMorrow sensed an opportunity when the puck came his way near the red line.  He fed Ramos, who looked off as thought he would pass back.  Instead, Ramos sent a dart to the top corner from the right circle.

The Hawks and Stars move to Young Arena for Games Three and Four in the series. The matchups on Wednesday and Thursday both begin at 6:35.  Good seats are available from the Domino's Black Hawks Box Office by calling (319) 291-7680 or via tickets.waterlooblackhawks.com.

Waterloo 0 1 2 - 3
Lincoln 3 1 0 - 4

1st Period-1, Lincoln, Maltais 2 (Loomer, Brown), 2:00. 2, Lincoln, Markonidis 2 (Kohanski), 3:27. 3, Lincoln, Weber 1 (Maltais), 12:55. Penalties-Rombach Lin (tripping), 5:23; Peddle Wat (checking from behind), 16:15.

2nd Period-4, Lincoln, Pelletier 3 (Shlaine, Anderson), 5:17. 5, Waterloo, Ramos 3 (McMorrow, Peddle), 6:10. Penalties-Bogas Wat (roughing), 10:17; Digiulian Lin (slashing), 10:17.

3rd Period-6, Waterloo, Hawkins 6   17:53. 7, Waterloo, McMorrow 6 (Townsend), 19:39. Penalties-Weber Lin (interference), 3:51; Townsend Wat (bench minor-too many men), 6:50.

Shots on Goal-Waterloo 8-11-12-31. Lincoln 15-11-7-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Waterloo 0 / 2; Lincoln 0 / 2.
Goalies-Waterloo, Casey (33 shots-29 saves). Lincoln, Shostak (31 shots-28 saves).
A-2,797