Lumberjacks Goaltenders Shine in 2-1 Victory
September 12, 2022 – United States Hockey League (USHL) – Muskegon Lumberjacks News Release
MUSKEGON – One challenge for the Muskegon Lumberjacks’ coaches during training camp has been figuring out the goalie situation.
With no goalies back from last season and three newcomers in camp, it’s been a wide-open competition to see who makes the opening-night roster.
That competition got a little tighter on Monday night when two of those netminders shined in a 2-1 victory over Youngstown at Trinity Health Arena.
Forward Ethan Whitcomb, a second-year Lumberjack, scored both goals in the victory, which improved Muskegon’s preseason record to 1-2.
The Lumberjacks and Phantoms will play again in Muskegon at noon on Tuesday.
Conor Callaghan, the Jacks’ starting goalie on Monday, stopped 21 of 22 shots before he left midway through the second period. His replacement, Noah Rupprecht, stopped all 30 shots he faced.
Their efforts were critical, because the Lumberjacks were outshot in the contest by a whopping 51-17 margin.
“The goalies are making our decisions really hard,” said Lumberjacks coach Mike Hamilton. “Tonight they won us a hockey game, no doubt about it. Youngstown was the better team and the goalies kept us in and gave us a chance.”
The Jacks’ penalty-killing unit also shined, keeping the Phantoms from scoring on eight of nine power play opportunities.
Youngstown was only whistled for two penalties in the contest.
The first period was scoreless. Youngstown finally broke the deadlock early in the second period when Nick Williams scored on a shot from the point when the Phantoms had a 5-on-3 power play..
Whitcomb tied the game at 7:56 of the second period when he broke in alone on the Youngstown goal and scored with a nice backhand shot.
The Jacks took their final lead when Whitcomb popped in a rebound at 14:05 of the third period.
Hamilton said Whitcomb’s goals were particularly exciting because the forwards have not been finding the net very much in three preseason games.
“(Whitcomb) is a guy we want, need and expect to score, so that was nice to see,” the coach said. “So far it’s really been our defense that’s been leading the scoring.”
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