Men's Ice Hockey 2/28/2026 10:11:00 PM Joel Norman

LANCERS DROP HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER TILT

The Omaha Lancers overcame two different deficits but fell to the Muskegon Lumberjacks, 5-3, on Saturday night at Liberty First Credit Union Arena.

Viktor Norringer scored twice with two perfectly placed wrist shots while adding two assists to give Muskegon (31-18-0-1) the victory. He scored the game-winning goal with 2:58 remaining in the game by shaking off the defense at the right point and ripping a shot through the traffic. Norringer's first goal put the Lumberjacks up, 3-2, on a shot from the high slot with two defenders in front of him 11 minutes into the second period.

Despite being outshot, 53-23, Omaha (11-34-2-2) matched the scoring in the first two periods. Both teams got on the board in the first period before combining for four goals in the second period. Devin Shakar made 48 saves, his second-most stops in a game this season.

Muskegon opened up the scoring on Ty Bergeron's wrist shot from just inside the blue line 5:01 into the game to strike first.

Omaha evened the game up on Tanner Morgan's sixth goal of the season at the 12:42 mark. Cam Caron started the play with a wrist shot that was denied but the Lumberjacks could not clear and Finn De St. Hubert hustled to the loose puck at the left dot. Without hesitation he set up Morgan at the top of the crease far side for the easy tap-in.

Caron put the Lancers in the lead for the first time on a three-on-one rush at the 5:49 mark of the second. Morgan carried the puck in right-wing side and hit the trailer, Hudson Kowalchuk, before quickly receiving a one-touch return pass. Anticipating a one-timer opportunity, Morgan instead had to receive on the backhand and quickly found Caron at the far post to make it 2-1, Omaha.

The Lumberjacks tied it up on a terrific display of hand-eye coordination by Melvin Novotny when he batted his own rebound out of mid-air and scored at the 8:16 mark of the second. The power-play goal was originally waived off and deemed to have been played with a high stick but the call was reversed after a lengthy review.

Norringer's first goal of the game at the 11:00 mark made it 3-2 but Lefty Markonidis helped the Lancers tie the game for a second time with a wrist shot from the left point at the 16:39 mark of the second. His ninth goal and third power-play goal gave the Lancers their third tally on the man advantage over the last four games.

Shakar and the Lancers withstood the bulk of the Lumberjacks' attack in the third period, despite being outshot, 23-11. Norringer broke through in the late stages and Chuck Blanchard added an empty-net goal at the 19:23 mark.

Omaha wraps up the three-game weekend Sunday night at 5:05 vs. Muskegon. It's First Responders Night and all first responders can show their ID at the box office to receive up to four free tickets to the game. Tickets can be purchased at bit.ly/LancersHKY

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