FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 18, 2022

K-WINGS DELIGHT SELL OUT CROWD, UPEND HEARTLANDERS ON GREEN ICE 

Kalamazoo puts on a show in the 39th annual Green Ice game and beats Iowa, 5-4.

BOX SCORE                 

KALAMAZOO, MI - The Kalamazoo Wings (29-27-0-0) fought back twice, took the lead for good in the second period and rode the Matheson Iacopelli hat trick to beat the Iowa Heartlanders (26-25-6-1) by a score of 5-4 at Wings Event Center on Green Ice in front of the sell out crowd Friday.

With the win in the 39th annual Green Ice game, the K-Wings have now won six of the last seven on the Irish surface and five of their last six games.

Iowa scored the game’s opening goal at the 6:10 mark of the first, and would take the lead again after Iacopelli (12) tied it at the 10:22 mark, but the Western Michigan product wasn’t going to let the 5,316 in attendance down. Not on this night. 

Iacopelli(13, 14) scored another goal in the first at the 14:51 mark to tie it at two and earned the hat trick before the 56 second mark of the second period. Logan Lambdin notched two assists on the Iacopelli scoring fest, and Olivier LeBlanc (1) and Kyle Blaney (18) earned points as well with Iacopelli helpers. 

Iacopelli’s goals featured two carbon copy backhanders and a one-timer off an offensive zone faceoff, with the latter giving the K-Wings the 3-2 lead right out the gates in the second period.  

The Heartlanders tied it up at the 5:04 mark of the second - but in his first game back from Cleveland - Jake Slaker (11) scored on a break away - and gave the K-Wing the lead for good. Tanner Sorenson (30) assisted on the goal.

Lambdin (23) scored the game winner at the 6:57 mark of the third period to extend Kalamazoo’s lead to 5-3. Kyle Blaney (19) and Iacopelli (11) assisted on the goal.

Iowa scored on a four-on-three advantage at the 8:59 mark of the third, but the Kalamazoo defense slammed the door at the end for the victory.

On the night, Iacopelli finished with four points (3G, 1A), Lambdin finished with three points (1G, 2A) and Blaney finished with two points (2A).

Trevor Gorsuch (17-18-0-0) made 35 saves in the contest, and has now won his last five starts for Kalamazoo. 

The K-Wings outshot the Hearlanders 40-39 in the game. With the win, Kalamazoo now jumps Iowa in the standings, moving into the No. 5 slot in the Central Division.  

Kalamazoo and Iowa run it back tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. EST for ‘First Responders Night’ at Wings Event Center. 

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The Kalamazoo Wings are a professional hockey team located in southwest Michigan that has been a staple in the Kalamazoo, MI professional sports landscape since 1974. The K-Wings compete in the ECHL and are the AA affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets and American Hockey League’s Cleveland Monsters. Kalamazoo plays their 36 regular season home games at Wings Event Center from October through April.

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