Steel Split On The Road
Bensenville, IL (February 13th, 2010) -  The Chicago Steel hit the road this past weekend with games against the Waterloo Black Hawks and the Omaha Lancers. Chicago could have helped its’ own cause with a road win at Young Arena where the Waterloo Black Hawks enjoyed a slight lead over the Steel in the point standings for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

 Waterloo managed the only score in the 1st period on a Brock Montpetit power play goal-one of three for the Black Hawks on Friday.  

Chicago answered back in the 2^nd period in the form of a penalty shot taken by Forward Andrei Kuchin, his fifteenth goal of the year. Chicago’s offense faded the rest of the way, managing only four shots that period. Waterloo scored with seconds to go to eventually take a 2-1 advantage into the intermission. 

Waterloo opened it up in the third with four unanswered goals to cruise to a 6-1 victory. Steel Goalie Nick Pisellini (Western Michigan) took the loss, allowing six goals on twenty nine attempts.  

The loss dropped Chicago further behind Waterloo in the point’s standings and the playoff picture. This game marked the conclusion of head-to-head meetings between the two teams, meaning, if Chicago is to leap frog the Black Hawks in the standings it’ll have to be with some help from other teams in the league. 

On Saturday Chicago matched up with Omaha in another season finale. On the year the Steel were 1-2 against the Lancers heading into Saturday night’s game from Omaha.  

The first period passed without a score-the Steel defense did a good job of keeping the Lancers out of the net and off the board. The offense would create its own opportunities, outshooting the Lancers in every period.  

In the 2^nd period the Lancers received two quick goals, including a contribution from former Steel Captain Greg Wolfe, to take a temporary 2-0 lead. 

Chicago fired back with three goals from Theo DiPauli, Danny Mattson (North Dakota), who Chicago received in the Wolfe trade, and Jake Chelios. The goals were their third, ninth, and ninth on the season. 

The Steel continued to add to their 3-2 lead in the 3^rd with goals from Billy Latta (Connecticut), his first since coming over from Sioux City, and an unassisted goal from Andrei Kuchin. For Kuchin, the goal was his 16^th.  

The 5-2 win puts Chicago seven points behind Waterloo heading back to the Edge Ice Arena for a weekend showdown with Sioux Falls this February 19^th and 20^th.  Tickets can be purchased by calling the Steel Box Office at (630) 594-1165.