Chicago Steel forward Jackson Crowder had a goal and four assists; his five-point night pushed the home team past the Waterloo Black Hawks 5-2 at Fox Valley Ice Arena Friday.
The Hawks' loss contributed to three Western Conference teams securing their postseason bids. The Tri-City Storm, Sioux City Musketeers, Lincoln Stars are now locked into the playoff field as a consequence of the night's results.
Chicago produced goals early and late in the first period. At 5:36, a deflected shot took a funny bounce out of the left corner, landing in the circle just in front of Crowder. As he arrived at the puck, Crowder snapped a quick shot into the top corner.
Then at 15:11, Crowder caught a pass on his off hand in the left circle. He turned and dropped it back to Brady Kudrick, who was coming into the zone on a chance, and Kudrick blasted it into the net.
The Hawks drew even with two second period goals; the first of them came in the opening shift after intermission. With Waterloo in control of the puck deep in the Steel zone, Adam Timm hit Cullen Emery steaming up the slot, and Emery beat Veeti Louhivaara to the glove side.
Trevor O'Donohue then tied it with a power play strike off a faceoff at 12:33. The draw was tangled, but O'Donohue snagged the puck, spun, and lifted it past a surprised Louhivaara for the equalizer.
However, Chicago did all the scoring in the third. Adyn Merrick broke the 2-2 tie with 9:55 to go, stepping through the left circle and across the top of the crease to slip the puck past Dane Callaway's left skate.
Waterloo could not score on a power play right after that, and Chicago spent most of the last seven minutes on the advantage, including a five minute major penalty against Atte Vikla for boarding that carried through the end of regulation. Brady Kudrick and Ryland Rooney scored during that power play to put the game out of reach.
The Steel outshot the Hawks 34-25, including 12-5 in the third period.
Waterloo returns to Chicago Sunday afternoon, but first, the Hawks visit the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders on Saturday night. The next home game at Young Arena is March 13th against the Des Moines Buccaneers.
Waterloo 0 2 0 - 2
Chicago 2 0 3 - 5
1st Period-1, Chicago, Crowder 18 (Scantlebury), 5:36. 2, Chicago, Kudrick 15 (Crowder, Goukler), 15:11. Penalties-Shorter Chi (checking from behind), 1:56.
2nd Period-3, Waterloo, Emery 9 (Timm, O'Donohue), 0:37. 4, Waterloo, O'Donohue 1 (Nolan), 12:33 (PP). Penalties-Kemps Chi (cross checking), 7:45; Tuminaro Chi (interference), 11:05; Schneider Wat (cross checking), 19:26.
3rd Period-5, Chicago, Merrick 11 (Crowder, Senerchia), 10:05. 6, Chicago, Kudrick 16 (Crowder, Goukler), 16:49 (PP). 7, Chicago, Rooney 13 (Crowder, Vieau), 19:55 (PP). Penalties-Deanovich Wat (roughing), 7:46; Tuminaro Chi (roughing), 7:46; Crowder Chi (roughing), 10:05; O'Donohue Wat (hooking), 13:14; Vikla Wat (major-boarding), 15:53; Wat (game misconduct-abuse of official), 20:00.
Shots on Goal-Waterloo 12-8-5-25. Chicago 9-13-12-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Waterloo 1 / 4; Chicago 2 / 5.
Goalies-Waterloo, Callaway 4-7-1-1 (34 shots-29 saves). Chicago, Louhivaara 9-4-4-0 (25 shots-23 saves).
A-1,587
