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2025 Muskegon Lumberjacks vs Waterloo Black Hawks

Muskegon Lumberjacks Claim First Ever USHL Clark Cup In Dramatic Fashion

Muskegon Lumberjacks Claim First Ever USHL Clark Cup In Dramatic Fashion

Jack Christ completed a hat trick in overtime of Game 5 of the Clark Cup Final to give the Muskegon Lumberjacks their first USHL title.

May 21, 2025 by Chris Peters
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WATERLOO, Iowa – Jack Christ was Muskegon’s savior in overtime, completing an incredible hat trick to help the Lumberjacks defeat the Waterloo Black Hawks in Game 5 to claim their first ever Clark Cup.

Christ scored twice over the first two periods of the game, but saved his best goal for last, slipping behind the Waterloo defense before collecting his own rebound and sliding it past Carter Casey to set off the celebration.

Muskegon, which has a rich hockey tradition that has spanned multiple leagues over the years, has not experienced a hockey championship since the now-defunct UHL’s Colonial Cup won by the Muskegon Fury in 2005.

The Lumberjacks have been in the USHL since 2010, but had not yet won the league’s postseason title. The closest they came was a trip to the Clark Cup Final in 2015. Last season, the Jacks made it to the third round of the postseason, but fell short of reaching the final.

It’s all forgotten now, as the Muskegon Lumberjacks are USHL champions after one of the greatest Clark Cup Finals in the league’s history.

Tynan Lawrence, the USHL’s best player throughout the Clark Cup Playoffs, got the scoring started when his one-timer stayed low and squeezed through the pads of Waterloo netminder Carter Casey. Later in the period, Jack Christ doubled the Lumberjacks’ advantage with a perfect shot off the rush, quieting the otherwise boisterous crowd in Young Arena.

The second period seemed to bring the best out of Waterloo as they controlled play for much of the first half of the period. It culminated with the team’s leading scorer, Brendan McMorrow following an off-the-boards rebound and firing it past Shika Gadzhiev. 

Waterloo continued to generate chances, but it looked like the rally was thwarted when Muskegon appeared to score a go-ahead goal. However, after a lengthy review, the referees determined the goal should not count due to goalie interference.

With new life, the Black Hawks started buzzing again. They generated more golden opportunities and kept pucks in the zone. Reid Morich slipped into the slot undetected and put a low shot past Gadzhiev to tie the game up and set up more drama for the third period. 

Christ got things rolling early, scoring on a juicy rebound left by Carter Casey and smashing the puck into the upper-left corner. The goal came just 1:54 into the final frame.

Both teams traded chances throughout the period, before Hunter Ramos found some empty ice inside the left faceoff circle and managed to whip a shot past Gadzhiev to tie the score once again.

The remainder of the third period saw both teams playing tighter defensively and shots harder to come by. The all-out war between the faceoff dots made for fewer chances and more risks being taken off the rush, but both teams were too disciplined to allow much of quality to get through.

The game remained tied through the end of regulation before a spirited overtime where both teams traded chance after chance, but it was Christ’s goal 6:01 into the extra period that touched off the party in Muskegon.

Game 5 was the third straight game of the series to be decided in overtime. The Lumberjacks had a chance to clinch on home ice in Game 4, and nearly did, overcoming a 2-0 deficit in dramatic fashion including the latest a goal has ever been scored in regulation to tie it. They ultimately lost that game in OT.

With the series in a sold-out Young Arena, the crowd was against them, but Muskegon found a way thanks in large part to Jack Christ, but also to their goaltender who had one of his best games of the series at the best possible time.

Gadzhiev finished the game with 34 saves to earn the win. He finished the playoffs with an 8-0-1 record and .935 save percentage. 

Lawrence, who finished the postseason with a league-best 18 points, was named the Clark Cup Playoffs MVP. He is a top prospect for the 2026 NHL Draft and certainly put more fuel in his already-rising draft stock with his MVP performance.

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