As the Cedar Valley prepares to shovel our way out of snow storm, the Black Hawks are slowly clawing their way out of the cellar of the USHL's Western Conference.

Waterloo had Lincoln seeing "stars", with a 5-2 win over the Lincoln Stars in a rare Monday night game at Young Arena. The Black Hawks' Zach Michaelis came out of the penalty box to score tapping it in on a Max Sasson set-up. In the 2nd period, Sasson set up another goal from close range – this time by Ryan O’Hara. 3rd period scoring came from Kyler Kleven, when he punched in a Cooper Wylie.

Just over three minutes later, Matt Argentina delivered his second goal in as many games, putting back the rebound of an Ethan Szmagaj shot. The Stars' net-minder went to the bench early for an extra attacker, setting up a late Lincoln goal. However, that's where any come-back ended, as Kyler Kleven assisted Wyatt Schingoethe during a two-on-none rush into an empty net. The Black Hawks' Charlie Glockner claimed the win in goal with 24 saves as Waterloo outshot the visitors 33-26.

After an off day on Tuesday, the Black Hawks travel to Des Moines on Wednesday to open a home-and-home series against the Buccaneers. Waterloo then takes to the ice on New Year's Eve with an early start time of 6:05pm. The gates open at 5:05pm with no early entry, and fans are reminded that face masks are required at all times (except when eating/drinking) when they are in Young Arena. The Black Hawks have played at home on New Year’s Eve annually since 1998.

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