Black Hawks Beat Force, Set Record, Now in First

The Waterloo Black Hawks set a franchise record for consecutive regular season wins and moved into first place in the United States Hockey League Saturday, with a 6-2 road victory against the Fargo Force at Scheels Arena.

The previous record winning streak was set during the 2002/03 season. Eight wins during the current run have been earned on the road.  Coupled with the Omaha Lancers’ 3-1 loss to the Dubuque Fighting Saints Saturday, the Hawks also moved one point ahead of Omaha for first place in the USHL.

For the second consecutive night, Waterloo pulled ahead with two first period goals against the Force.  John Wiitala had an easy backdoor tap-in at 10:43, set up by a Jake Horton steal.  Waterloo made it 2-0 at 18:38; Peter Krieger ran into the post at the right of Brendan Jensen and knocked the cage to the end wall, but not before putting the puck over the goal line.  However, on the ensuing faceoff, a penalty against the Hawks set up a power play, and Teemu Kivihalme fired a shot from the high slot over the glove of Cameron Johnson with 19.9 left until intermission.

The Hawks had a chance to build the lead when Tyson McLellan was awarded a penalty shot 3:42 into the second period, but his opportunity was denied when Jensen poked the puck off of his stick.  Instead the Force tied the game at 8:19 with a steal and breakaway goal by Alex Jackstadt.  However, McLellen was able to capitalize on his next big opportunity, redirecting a Dane Cooper shot into the net at 15:15 to give Waterloo a new lead.

The Black Hawks nailed down the decision in the third.  Blake Winiecki scored into an open side on a cross-ice pass from Drew Melanson at 3:46.  Three-and-a-half minutes later, Krieger blasted his second of the game into the net during a power play.  Wiitala left no doubt about the outcome with 2:14 remaining, knocking in a puck that lay loose in the crease.

Johnson made 20 saves in his first game back in Fargo following a trade to the Black Hawks last week.

After four consecutive road games, the Black Hawks are back on Young Arena ice Friday to host the Muskegon Lumberjacks.  The game is part of Waterloo’s John Deere Weekend, with $7 tickets for Deere employees and their families.  The first 1,000 fans in attendance will also receive the next installment of 2013/14 Black Hawks Player Cards, courtesy of the Iowa Donor Network.  For tickets, call the Domino’s Black Hawks Box Office at (319) 291-7680 or visit waterlooblackhawks.com.

For Saturday's box score, please click on the link below:
http://ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=2234985