MUSKEGON – So were there too many men on the ice?

Muskegon Lumberjacks Coach Mike Hamilton certainly didn’t think so, and he let the referees know it in uncertain terms when the call was made.

But the call didn’t change, the Lumberjacks were penalized, and they faced a shorthanded 5-on-3 situation with 3:18 left in regulation on Friday night.

Youngstown’s Winter Wallace took advantage by scoring the tying goal with just over two minutes left in the third period, sending the game to overtime.

Then his teammate Kyle Bettens scored with 1:47 left in the extra period, sending the Lumberjacks to a disappointing 4-3 loss on Friday night at Mercy Health Arena.

The loss ended an impressive eight-game winning streak for the Lumberjacks and dropped their record to 20-10-4 on the season.

Muskegon’s Parker Lindauer controls the puck in the corner. Photo/Jeremy Clark

They received a point in the standings for playing to a tie in regulation and remain in second place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference, two points behind Chicago, which lost to Green Bay on Friday night.

The Lumberjacks ended up playing two men short on two different occasions in the third period, and both situations resulted in Youngstown goals.

While Hamilton certainly appeared disgusted after the final penalty call that led to Wallace’s tying goal, he refrained from complaining about the refs after the game, instead blaming his team for taking too many penalties in a close game.

“At the end of the day we have to close out the hockey game,” Hamilton said. “We gave them two 5-on-3s. We had the game completely under control twice and we went out and took penalties.

“Are there questionable calls? Sure, but at the end of the day it’s on us. We cannot be taking penalties when a game is ready to be closed out.”

There was no scoring in the first period. The Jacks opened the scoring with a goal by Jack Williams at 5:39 of the second, then the Phantoms tied it with a goal by Wallace at 13:09, just one second after a Muskegon penalty expired.

Muskegon’s Phil Tresca tries to avoid the outstretched stick of an opponent. Photo/Jeremy Clark

Most of the exciting action happened in the third period, when the Lumberjacks scored two very pretty goals and appeared to be in command of the gamed.

The first highlight-reel goal came at 6:39 of the third period, when the Phantoms had a power play.

Youngstown goalie Trey Taylor attempted to clear the puck away to a teammate, but Muskegon’s Quinn Hutson swooped in, intercepted the pass and put the puck in the net for a shorthanded goal, giving the Lumberjacks a 2-1 lead.

Muskegon faced its first 5-on-3 shorthanded situation a while later, and Charlie Lurie scored for Youngstown to tie the game at 2-2.

The Jacks struck back less than two minutes later when defenseman Jacob Guevin got the puck near how own goal and sent an incredible laser-pass three-quarters of the way down the ice to forward Ben Strinden, who got it just outside the blue line, skated in and put a high shot into the net at the 9:45 mark.

The Jacks’ 3-2 lead appeared safe until late in the game, when they again had two players in the penalty box following the too many men on the ice call.

The Lumberjacks’ Jake Braccini dishes out a hard check. Photo/Jeremy Clark

Wallace scored at the 18:06 mark, sending the game to OT.

“We had possession of the puck and the guy who jumped on and then off the ice was not a part of the play,” Hamilton said when asked about the final penalty. “I completely disagree with it, but we shouldn’t have put ourselves in that spot in the first place.

“I thought we played well and we had many opportunities to pull away in the game, but we shot ourselves in the foot.”

The Jacks opened overtime by peppering the Youngstown goal with shots, but nothing went it. Youngstown final got a few opportunities, and Bettens scored at 3:12 to give Youngstown the win.

Taylor played well in goal for Youngstown, stopping 39 of 42 Muskegon shots. The Jacks lost despite having a 42-26 advantage in shots on goal.

Muskegon goalie Aleksander Kuleshov took the loss after making 22 saves on 26 shots.