The Lincoln Stars sharpened its skates in the final two periods, but an early Waterloo surge and a potential missed goal call doomed the Stars.
Waterloo (35-19-1) defeated the Stars 4-3 at the Ice Box as the two teams swapped positions in the standings. Lincoln has seven games left in the regular season.
Lincoln (33-19-4) rallied to tie the game 2-2 from Tanner Ludtke and Mason Marcellus in the second period, with Lutdke adding his second goal of the game and 30th of the season to make it 3-3.
Waterloo regained a 4-3 advantage and an apparent goal by the Stars never came to light as Waterloo held off the Stars in the final minutes of regulation.
“The guys really worked and got ourselves back into it,” Lincoln head coach Rocky Russo said. “When you work and you earn it and put one in the net and we don't even bother to go look at it, that's pretty frustrating. The video doesn't lie, and the video shows the puck got shot, hit the goalie in the inside of the leg and went in the net. He laid down on top of it and they didn't count it, because the referee didn't really want to work behind the net until it was too late. That's the breaks and I hope those two points don't cost us statistically, because of an official not going to take a peek at the review.”
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The Black Hawks controlled tempo and the Ice Box crowd early, jumping to a 2-0 lead and holding a 22-1 shot advantage over Lincoln (33-19-4). Waterloo finished the game with a 39-23 shot advantage.
Lincoln's third shot of the contest came with 15:29 left in the second period and began the Lincoln rally.
“We didn't really make any adjustments,” Russo said. “We talked about some tweaks from a breakout perspective. It was a compete-level issue in the first period. … I knew (Waterloo) was going to come and push and play great in the first period. There is no doubt about it. They did exactly what we expected them to do. Sometimes you tell a teenager not to do something and they do it anyway. Then they have to learn the hard way.
“They realized they didn't play up to their potential in the first period and they corrected it. That's all you can ask of a group.”
Lucas Massie made 35 saves with 20 coming in the first period of play and helped the Stars stay in the contest throughout.
“(Massie) was very good in the first period,” Russo said. “When we weren't playing well, he was up to the challenge and we appreciate that.”
Rhule at the Ice Box: Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule dropped the ceremonial puck Saturday ahead of the Stars vs. Waterloo contest. But it was more than just a public appearance.
“With a job like this, it's not just about the football impact of the community,” Rhule said. “That's our players. Our players are in the stands tonight. Just being here it's awesome meeting little kids and fans. Take pictures with people. We want everyone to feel like this is their football team."
Rhule, a New York native and lifelong fan of the NHL's New York Rangers, has been active outside of the football field to find a footing in the Nebraska community.
“Sometimes in football, you can get tunnel vision. You can just look at yourself. To work with our (Nebraska) golf team, our women's soccer team and with the Stars. Lori Crocker has done an amazing job, and to have them work with us, it means a lot. When they reach out to us, we want to reach out to them.”
