MUSKEGON – Sometimes the trajectory of a game can change in a blink of an eye, and that happened to the Muskegon Lumberjacks on Friday night.

The Lumberjacks kept taking one-goal leads throughout the game, including a 3-2 lead over the Team USA Under-18 squad 7:33 into the third period.

So things were looking pretty good for the Jacks in their home opener at Trinity Health Arena.

Team USA quickly responded, however, tying the contest just 16 seconds later, then scoring again 19 seconds after that.

The two-goal barrage in the 35-second span, along with a late empty-netter, left the Jacks with a stunning and disappointing 5-3 loss.

Muskegon, which has a 1-2 record, will look to even the weekend series against the Under-18’s in a Saturday night rematch at 6:10 p.m.

“It was a game that favored their identity and not ours,” said Lumberjacks head coach Colten St. Clair. “The back-and-forth play, and us shooting ourselves in the foot.

“We need to have the maturity to stay on our plan. We don’t practice like they do, so why play like they do?”

The pair of Team USA goals in a 35-second span killed the Lumberjacks momentum the rest of the way, making it harder to find the game-tying goal in the final moments of the contest.

“The shift after a goal against is the most important, we are trying to either get momentum back or keep it,” St. Clair said. “I think we thought every time we touched the puck it was going to be stat night.

“But when you do things the right way by attacking the interior and defending well as a group of five, that is how it becomes a stat night.”

The first period ended in a scoreless tie. The Lumberjacks had a 10-9 advantage in shots on goal.

The Lumberjacks opened the scoring with a goal from Nick Kosiba 1:19 into the second period. Lars Hutson and Janz each assisted on the goal.

Team USA tied the game with a goal on a one-time shot by Cannon Thibodeau at the 10:44 mark of the second period.

Muskegon responded less than a minute later to take the lead back, with a goal by Louis Jonerheim. He scored on a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle after taking a pass from Zaac Charbonneau.

Felix Farhammar also was credited with an assist.

Team USA once again tied the contest with a goal from Griffin Storey on a shot between the faceoff circle 15:21 into the second period.

The game was tied 2-2 heading into the third period with Team USA outshooting the Lumberjacks 21-19.

Team USA received the first power play of the game 4:51 into the third period and Muskegon successfully killed it off.

Jacks goalie Samuel Doyon-Cataquiz made a huge save for the Lumberjacks 10 seconds after Muskegon killed off the penalty. He swung at the airborne puck that was heading toward the net and cleared it out of the zone.

The Jacks took a 3-2 lead less than a minute later with a goal off the stick from Janz, who was all alone driving the net from the left side, and snapped it in from below the faceoff circle.

Kosiba and Cole Anderson assisted on the goal.

Then came the flood waters as Team USA scored two goals in a span of 35 seconds to turn a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead.

Nolan Fitzhenry tied the game 7:49 into the third period, then Finn Sears scored the eventual game-winning goal at the 8:08 mark of the third period.

Muskegon was given its lone power play opportunity 10:31 into the third period, and moved the puck well, but failed to find the back of the net.

“Happy with the puck movement, but we had a couple of situations taking seconds off on a face-off battle,” St. Clair said.

The Lumberjacks pulled their goalie with 3:26 remaining in the game, allowing Team USA’s Braden Norton to score an an empty-net goal with 43 seconds left to seal the victory.