OMAHA, NE. - The Omaha Lancers concluded their season series with the Waterloo Black Hawks Friday night at Liberty First Credit Union Arena. Waterloo who has been consistent throughout the season would still look to get its first regulation win against the Lancers since December 14, 2019. The Black Hawks had come in with what might be the best blue line in the league led by defensemen Sam Rinzel, Aaron Pionk, as well as a pair of former Lancer d-men Ben Robertson and Nate Benoit.
The majority of the first period would be controlled by Waterloo as they looked sharp early on.
The scoring would start with Waterloo forward Garrett Schifsky as fellow linemate Caden Brown would find Schifsky back door to put it past Lancer netminder Kevin Pasche to give Waterloo the early 1-0 lead.
Omaha would respond with a few scoring chances of their own, but Waterloo goalie Emmett Croteau would continue to show why he is a goalie of the year candidate backstopping all Lancer shots that came his way to hold a 1-0 Waterloo lead going into the second period of play.
The second period had the Lancers come out much sharper to start as right away defenseman Will Smith would find the back of the net after a terrific screen was set up by forward Aleksi Kivioja; taking away the vision of Croteau allowing Smith's wrister from the point to find nylon tying it at one goal apiece.
The Lancers were not done as shortly thereafter forward Drew Montgomery would put one away top shelf to give Omaha the 2-1 advantage.
Waterloo would be fired up after that, as defenseman Jaedon Kerr would cash in off a Lancer turnover to tie it back up 2-2.
Waterloo would eventually get a powerplay opportunity later in the period, and it would be forward Garrett Schifsky once again after defenseman Ben Robertson would rip one from the point before Schifsky would deflect the puck past Pasche from the slot to give Waterloo the 3-2 lead heading into the third.
The third period would be dominated by Waterloo, as the Black Hawks would adjust defensively giving the Lancers' puck carriers no space to work with, and the Black Hawks were able to shut Omaha down because of it.
Waterloo would cap it off with one more goal in the third, as it would come off the stick of forward Gavin O'Connell to lead Waterloo to a 4-2 victory over the Lancers.
The Lancers are back in action tomorrow night in Sioux Falls to take on the Sioux Falls Stampede. Puck drop is at 6:05 CST. You can catch the game on Mixlr or FloSports.
