General 3/14/2025 10:42:00 PM Calvin Bush

Waterloo Quiets Steel in 5-1 Win

Crowder scores lone Steel goal; Chicago concludes five-game home stretch Saturday night

GENEVA, IL — After taking a 1-0 lead into the second period, the Chicago Steel (16-31-4-1, 37 pts.) surrendered five unanswered goals including two by Reid Morich as the Waterloo Black Hawks (26-14-6-4, 62 pts.) skated to a 5-1 win Friday night at Fox Valley Ice Arena.

Jackson Crowder scored the only Steel goal, his eighth of the season. Goaltender Louka Cloutier stopped 25 shots in defeat.

Waterloo clinched a playoff spot with the victory and finished the regular season winning all three matchups against Chicago.

Chicago opened the scoring with just over five minutes left in the opening period when Tobias Ohman won a puck battle in the left corner and found Crowder in the slot, who wristed a shot under the glove of Waterloo netminder Calvin Vachon.

Later in the period, Cam Briere made an excellent deke around a defender to create space and released a shot while falling down, but Vachon managed to get the tip of his glove on the shot to keep it out.

With time dwindling in the first, Hudson Gorski had a golden opportunity to make it a two-goal lead for Chicago when he tried to go forehand to backhand on a chance in front, but he pushed the shot just wide.

The Steel were penalized immediately after Gorski's chance that took a Waterloo power play into the second, then another infraction gave the Black Hawks an abbreviated 5-on-3 advantage.

Chicago successfully withstood the strong push while down two players and killed the remainder of the power play to start the second period on the right note.

Shortly after the end of their advantage, the Black Hawks tied the game at one when Chase Jette smacked a one-timer from above the circles on a Brady Peddle pass from the blue line.

The Steel threatened with a pair of strong looks.

Owen Tylec carried the puck behind the net and above the circles before ripping a shot off the post. Moments later, Tylec entered in a 2-on-1 and gave a backdoor feed to Gorski, who had his one-timer stopped on a right pad save by Vachon.

Waterloo turned the tables and went the other way, with Bradley Walker sending a shot off the crossbar.

The opposing pressure led to a lead-taking goal at 16:29 when Kaeden Hawkins tried to tuck a shot around Cloutier but was stopped. The Waterloo forward grabbed the rebound and fed Reid Morich in the slot, who took two shots before batting an airborne rebound past Cloutier to make it 2-1.

Waterloo held Chicago to five shots on goal in the second period to take a 23-13 shots lead to the third.

Just before the midway point of the third period, Chicago went to the power play, but the road team received some luck following a Steel turnover in the neutral zone. Morich corralled the loose puck and made a cross-ice pass that bounced off Briere's stick and through Cloutier for a goal.

Five minutes later, Walker released a heavy shot from the right point that made its way through traffic and over Cloutier's blocker to make it a 4-1 Waterloo lead.

The Black Hawks capped off the scoring when Nicholas Kosiba deposited an empty net goal.

Chicago will finish its five-game home stretch on Saturday, March 15 at 6:05 pm, hosting Green Bay for the team's 40th Anniversary Celebration of the movie Back to the Future presented by Best Day Housecleaning. After Saturday's game, fans are welcome to take the ice and Skate with the Steel.

All Steel tickets are digital, and fans are encouraged to purchase online in advance at ChicagoSteelHockeyTeam.com.

Group tickets and experiences, suites and other premium areas, including the Coors Light Chill Zone and Ice Side Tables, are also on sale now.

For more information, call 855-51-STEEL.

Chicago Steel Upcoming Schedule presented by Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush:
Saturday, March 15 vs. Green Bay Gamblers | 6:05 pm CT | 40^th Anniversary Celebration of Back to the Future presented by Best Day Housecleaning | Post-Game Skate with the Steel
Friday, March 21 at USA Hockey NTDP U18 | 6:00 pm CT
Saturday, March 22 at USA Hockey NTDP U18 | 6:00 pm CT

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