COUNCIL BLUFFS - One second there was an extreme high, the next the lowest of lows.

Barry Almeida's backhanded goal 6 minutes and 8 seconds into overtime lifted the Omaha Lancers to the Clark Cup championship with a 4-3 victory over the Waterloo Black Hawks Saturday in Game Five at the Mid-America Center.

Almeida broke through a pack of Black Hawks defenders and beat Black Hawks' goalie Matt DiGirolamo top-shelf from point-blank range.

The goal capped off a rally which saw the Lancers come from a 2 games to 1 deficit to beat Waterloo, devestating a lockerroom full of 23 talented players.

"I'm absolutely proud of the kids," Black Hawks head coach P.K. O'Handley said. "It was a heck of a hockey game. I don't think there is anything to hang anybody's head for. It was a heck of a game and a heck of a series."

Waterloo had been 3-0 in playoff overtime games prior to the championship game loss, and the team will be agonizing over the near misses.

In addtion to Maday's post, the Hawks failed to get off a shot on a 4-on-1 break three minutes into the extra period.

"We hit that most and you are on an emotional high and then the kid makes a great play and it is as low as you can get," O'Handley said.

Waterloo had been on that attack for most of the overtime period, before Omaha broke out of the Black Hawks zone.

Lancer Matt Thurber chipped the puck into the Waterloo zone, where Almeida gained control over a pair of Hawks. He broke away from the boards, almost lost the puck before slipping into the clear to setup the winning shot.

"The kid made a great play and those things happen. We hit a pipe and they go down, make a great play and score a goal," O'Handley said. "That is how it happens. It is unfortunate, but that is sports."

It was the second consecutive loss in the Clark Cup finals for Waterloo.

"It's a tough loss, hard to handle right now … it's something that is going to burn inside you for a long time." defenseman Blake Kessel said.

Jake Hauswirth gave Omaha a 1-0 lead in the first on nice set up by Joe Diamond with 2:41 left.

But insteading of burying their heads, the Black Hawks played the second period with a purpose.

Waterloo was the aggressors from the drop of the puck, and finally solved Lancer goalie Drew Palmisano 7:13 into the period when Olson slammed home a power-play goal ending an 80-plus minute Black Hawks scoring drought.

Drew MacKenzie made a nice play in neutral ice to help Waterloo jump ahead. MacKenzie's pass ignited Liivik on a mini-breakaway along the boards and as he carried the puck behind Palmisano, he sent a centering pass to Juutilainen who beat the Lancer netminder 5-hole for a 2-1 lead with 3:36 to go.

"There was a lot of fight in that group," O'Handley said. "There was never any panic. We felt good the whole way. I think we felt really good in the overtime period."

Omaha tied it on a Ben Arnt goal 3:58 into the third.

Minutes later, with an extra attacker on the ice and a delayed penalty set to be called on the Black Hawks, Patrick Wiercioch put the Lancers up with a laser from the blue line that beat DiGirolamo glove hand just under the 10-minute mark.

Once again, Waterloo rallied as Chad Billins scored his fifth power-play goal of the playoffs with 8:14 remaining.

Unfortunately, the Hawks didn't catch any more breaks.

"We played 78 games together and came up one period short," Olson said. "To have it be in overtime, couldn't ask for a better setting.

"It would've been nice to win that trophy, it's what we worked for all year, but give credit to Omaha. They were the best team in the regular season and they ended up taking it.

"It was a great series. You can't take anything away from both sides."

Contact Jim Nelson at (319) 291-1521 or jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com

Waterloo 0 2 1 0 - 3

Omaha 1 0 2 1 - 4

FIRST PERIOD - 1. Omaha, Jake Hauswirth (Joe Diamond, Patrick Wiercioch), 17:19. Penalties - Diamond, Oma (slashing), 10:38; John Lee, Wat (tripping), 13:18.

SECOND PERIOD - 2. Waterloo, Brett Olson (Siim Liivik, Billy Maday), 7:47, pp; 3. Waterloo, Jan-Mikael Juutilainen (Liivik, Drew MacKenzie), 16:24. Penalties - Olson, Wat (slashing), :40; Joe Sova, Oma (tripping), 5:39.

THIRD PERIOD - 4. Omaha, Ben Arnt (Travis Novak), 3:58; 5. Omaha, Wiercioch (Nico Sacchetti), 10:34; 6. Waterloo, Chad Billins (Olson, Blake Kessel), 12:46, pp. Penalties - Craig Smith, Wat (tripping), 1:51; Tyler Elbrecht, Oma (hooking), 4:34; Brock Montpetit, Wat (hooking), 7:52; Matt Thurber, Oma (tripping), 11:58.

OVERTIME - 7. Omaha, Barry Almeida (Thurber, Wiercioch), 6:08. Penalties - none.

SHOTS ON GOAL

Waterloo 7 13 10 4 - 34

Omaha 8 7 7 3 - 25

Goalies - Waterloo, Matt DiGirolamo (21 saves). Omaha, Drew Palmisano (22 saves). Referee - Mike McCreary. Linesmen - Chris Allman and Brian Oliver.