The Muskegon Lumberjacks were more than ready to get a win, and they weren’t going to settle for anything less.
The Jacks, who have been slumping a bit lately and lost both games last weekend, rallied for two late goals and beat the Cedar Rapids Roughriders 5-4 in overtime on Friday night in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Muskegon trailed 4-3 late in the third period when Jake Braccini found the net at the 1703 mark, tying the game and sending it to OT.
Lumberjacks rookie Jake Richard settled the matter just 1:16 into the extra session when he scored to ice the victory, with an assist from Ben Strinden.
The Jacks are now 25-14-6 on the season, good for 56 points in the standings and third place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference. They are three points behind second-place Dubuque and six behind first-place Chicago.
Muskegon and Cedar Rapids will play again on the Roughriders’ rink on Saturday night.
The game started out great for the Lumberjacks, who led 3-1 after one period on goals by Joey Larson, Braccini and Parker Lindauer. Yusaku Ando scored the lone first-period goal for Cedar Rapids.
The Roughriders fought back in the second period, getting goals from Grand Ahcan and Cole Burch within the first two minutes to knot the score at 3-3.
Cedar Rapids’ Martins Lavins scored at 11:31 of the third period to give the home team a 4-3 edge, before Braccini and Richard scored their dramatic goals to steal the win for Muskegon.
Goalie Chase Clark, a recent addition to the Lumberjacks’ lineup, stopped 29 of 33 shots to collect the win.
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