The Lincoln Stars rallied to tie Saturday's game in the third period but ultimately lost to the Waterloo Black Hawks, 2-1, at Young Arena.

Tanner Ludtke scored his seventh of the season early in the third period to even the game up a 1-1 but surrendered the eventual game-winning goal just over nine minutes later.

The Stars, who are fourth in the USHL in goals, only scored three times in a pair of losses to Waterloo. The back-to-back losses marked just the second time that Lincoln has failed to win one-of-its-two weekend games this season.

"We did everything we needed to do tonight but finish," head coach Rocky Russo said. "The name of the game is scoring goals. We had plenty of chances in the second but once they scored they smelled some blood in the water. We dominated them in the second and I thought they were the better team in the third but we had our chances. They wanted it a little more than we did this weekend."

Lincoln (10-5) outshot Waterloo (10-5), 31-28, including by a 15-6 margin in the second period. The Stars could not cash in during that period as the Black Hawks scored the only goal of the frame when Jake McLean scored off a feed from James Hong from behind the net at the 8:18 mark.

Ludtke tied the game up at 3:11 of the third when Mason Marcellus forced a turnover along the goal line, skated out to the far boards and fed Ludtke in the slot. Marcellus earned his 14th apple on the play to move to first in the USHL in assists.

Patrick Geary broke the tie game up at 12:34 of the third when he nearly scored near post side, skated behind the net and was able to guide home a rebound from the far-post side.

Cameron Whitehead stopped 26 shots in net and was particularly strong in the third period, making 16 saves. It marked the second straight night that he made at least 16 saves in one period after stopping 18 shots in the first period on Friday night.

The Stars get a quick chance to bounce back as they face the Tri-City Storm on Wednesday night at the Ice Box. It's a Blackout Wednesday as the Stars are encouraging fans to wear black to
the game and are offering buy-one, get-one tickets. Purchase seats today at lincolnstars.com

Save time, every time when you use Online Check-in for a great haircut at Great Clips – proud partner of the Lincoln Stars.

Download their app or check-in online at greatclips.com. Great Clips. It's gonna be great.