Hitmen stop Stars, 4-3

Chicago rattles off four straight goals

BOX SCORE

GENEVA, ILL. - The Traverse City North Stars took an early 2-0 lead on Friday evening at Fox Valley Rink in suburban Chicago, but the host Hitmen levied the next four goals en route to a 4-3 victory in the first of a two-game series.

Conor Durgan ( Laingsburg, MI/Lansing Capitals U18) tallied five minutes into the opening period, and Chris Waterstreet (Northville, MI/TC North Stars NAHL) gave Traverse City a tweo-goal bulge at the same point in the second, but from there the Hitmen took control of the scoreboard, levying a pair of goals to close out the second period, and another pair to start the third before Will Badner (Cadillac, MI/Motor City NAHL) issued an academic rejoinder with a single tick on the clock.

The Stars (30-20-6) missed out on an opportunity to close to within four points of second-place Kalamazoo in the NAHL North Division standings. The K-Wings dropped a 4-0 decision to Michigan on Friday, and first-place Port Huron fell as well.

Michal Toman (Prievidza, Slovakia/TC North Stars NAHL) paced the TC offense with a pair of assists, while Badner, Zach Dorer (Holt, MI/Des Moines USHL/Ferris State) and Mitchell Snider (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars NAHL) added one each.

The teams square off again on Saturday evening in Chicagoland.  Face-off is slated for 8 p.m. CST