An emphatic 6-0 win against the Des Moines Buccaneers on the final scheduled night of the USHL campaign lifted the Waterloo Black Hawks to an Anderson Cup regular season championship.

Matej Tomek made 21 saves for the shutout, and the Hawks pulled away in the third while allowing just three Des Moines shots on goal during the final frame.

That last period began with the Hawks ahead 2-0, thanks to a pair of scores in the first. Ethan Johnson followed his own errant shot to create the first goal of the game at 8:06. Johnson went behind the net to repossess the puck, centering it for Evan Dougherty coming on a change. Alone in the slot, Dougherty fired a shot past the stick side of goalie Atticus Kelly.

An alert play by James Marooney led to the second goal of the period at 18:24. Marooney swooped in to steal a pass from a Buccaneer looking the other direction, then pushed a pass to the top of the crease. Jack Drury couldn’t get a shot, but the puck came to Sam Huff instead, and Huff slipped his opportunity across the goal line.

Dougherty’s second of the game came at 1:53 of the third; his wide chance came springing back off the end glass into the crease, ending up under Kelly as he slid back into the cage.

Ben Finkelstein added the first of two goals in delayed penalty situations, putting his shot in from the right circle at 7:06. Finkelstein set up Garrett Klee four-on-four at 11:56. The Hawks’ second delayed penalty tally was blasted in by Huff from the left circle at 17:53.

The Anderson Cup title is the third earned by Waterloo since the USHL transitioned to all junior-level players in the fall of 1979. All three of those championships have been claimed in the last 12 years.

The Black Hawks now open the USHL’s Clark Cup Playoffs next weekend. The opponent and specific schedule will be announced at a later date. Complete postseason packages are available by calling the Black Hawks’ front office at (319) 232-3444.

Contributed By: Tim Harwood (Waterloo Black Hawks Media Relations)

More From K92.3