Black Hawks Ring in New Year in Big Way

A sellout New Year’s Eve crowd watched the Waterloo Black Hawks ring out 2016 with a 6-2 win against the Madison Capitols at Young Arena Saturday.

Nick Swaney had three points and Robbie Beydoun made 25 saves during the victory. The result moves Waterloo into a second place tie in the United States Hockey League Western Conference. The game attracted 3,047 fans, the largest home attendance so far during 2016/17.

The Hawks won a spirited first period, which included 25 shots on frame but only one goal. Shane Bowers scored that just 1:20 into the action. Camped at the top of the crease during the early moments of a power play, Bowers received a Swaney pass from the left corner and flipped his shot over Dryden McKay.

Madison tied the score when Eetu Selanne lifted a shot to the nylon on a rush at 6:37. However the tie was maintained for less than 90 seconds. At 8:04 with a delayed penalty coming against the visitors, Ben Copeland sped into the offensive zone, across the slot, and lifted a shot past McKay’s stick side.

Just over five minutes later, Swaney took a similar path to convert a penalty shot. Moving from left to right, he outwaited McKay before lifting his chance over the goalie’s left pad. Garrett Wait added one more goal at 17:19 before the period ended; off a faceoff, Wait’s low shot found the net inside the short side post.

In the third, Grant Gabriele generated some excitement during his first Waterloo home game. The defenseman blasted a puck into the net from the deep slot during a power play at 3:53. The setup by Swaney accounted for his third point of the night.

Twenty second later, Madison’s Cole Hults slipped a shot from above the right circle through traffic and between the pipes. However, former Capitol forward Garrett Klee notched the game’s final goal at 12:19. An errant look from the left point came from behind the net and was batted around the goal mouth – with Klee getting the last touch – as it bounded across the goal line.

The Hawks’ first game of 2017 is on the road against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders next Saturday, January 7th. Waterloo’s first game on home ice during the new year will be on Sunday, the 15th, against the Des Moines Buccaneers at 3:05 p.m.

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