WATERLOO - It's over.

The Waterloo Black Hawks' home win streak came to an ugly halt at eight games Saturday night as the Green Bay Gamblers dominated the Hawks in all aspects of the game during a 3-1 win.

As the weather was turning bad outside of Young Arena, the conditions inside became worse as the Hawks could not control the Gamblers' storm.

"We just didn't show up to play," Hawks coach P.K. O'Handley said. "We had our best players that became our worst players, and that is just not acceptable.

"I told the guys that if winning dosesn't mean that much and losing doesn't hurt, then you have lost. I guess we just took winning for granted."

The game began as if the Hawks would roll to their ninth straight home win as George Hughes collected his first goal of the year 41 seconds into the opening period.

Hughes had parked in front of the net and redirected a shot by Eriah Hayes, freezing Gamblers goalie Reid Ellingson as the puck squeezed through.

The first period ended 1-0 in favor of the Hawks, but an uneasiness hovered over the home ice as the Gamblers outshot the Hawks 12-3, keeping the puck in the Hawks' defensive zone most of the time.

Green Bay was the benefactor of many Waterloo miscues in the second frame, and it tied the game one minute into the period.

A misplayed puck and questionable goal put the Gamblers up 2-1 midway through the stanza, taking the air from the crowd.

"You really couldn't ask for more things to go wrong than they did for us tonight," O'Handley stated. "We cannot use the last two nights as an excuse. We just did not play acceptable hockey."

The Hawks were coming off back-to-back victories over the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders and had climbed into second place (12-5-1, 25 points) in the Eastern Division.

With the Gamblers win and the Rough Riders claiming a victory over Des Moines, Waterloo is now tied for third with Green Bay with 25 points each.

The Gamblers scored late in the second on a Michael Forney goal for a 3-1 advantage.

Neither team rattled the net in the third period.

The Hawks return home next Saturday to take on the Omaha Lancers.

Contact Rod Payne at sportsdoor@wcfcourier.com

SCORE BY PERIODS

Waterloo 1 0 0 ? 1

Green Bay 0 3 0 ? 3

FIRST PERIOD ? 1. Waterloo, George Hughes (Eriah Hayes, Chris Student) 0:41. Penalties ? Michael Forney-GB (high sticking) 3:03; Jeff Ceccacci-GB (tripping) 5:14; Lee Moffie-W (holding) 7:22; Tyler Barnes-W (interference) 14:42; Nick Larson-W (delay of game) 15:29; Chris Saracino-GB (delay of game) 15:29; Patrick Wey-W (holding) 17:42.

SECOND PERIOD ? 2. Green Bay, Jefferson Dahl (powerplay) (David Makowski, Chris Saracino) 1:16; 3. Green Bay, Reed Seckel (Nick Jensen) 9:50; 4. Green Bay, Michael Forney (Anthony Hayes, Chris Crane) 12:44. Penalties ? Lee Moffie-W (tripping) 1:00; Chris Crane-GB (checking from behind) 5:46.

THIRD PERIOD ? No scoring. Penalties ? Ryan Hill-W (roughing double minor) 8:59; Matt Johnson-W (delay of game) 8:59; Taylor Johnson-GB (roughing double minor) 8:59; David Makowski-GB (delay of game) 8:59; Nick Jensen-GB (cross checking) 11:13; Nick Jensen-GB (fighting major) 11:13; Nick Larson-W (fighting (instigator)) 11:13; Nick Larson-W (fighting major) 11:13; Nick Larson-W (fighting game ejection) 11:13; Robert Shea-GB (fighting major) 11:15; Dan Sova-W (fighting major) 11:15; Tyler Barnes-W (delay of game) 12:15; Tyler Barnes-W (roughing) 12:15; David Makowski-GB (delay of game) 12:15; David Makowski-GB (roughing) 12:15; Kevin Albers-GB (tripping) 13:20; Craig Smith-W (slashing) 13:20.

SHOTS ON GOAL

Waterloo 3 6 6 ? 15

Green Bay 12 8 2 ? 22

Goalies - Waterloo, Joe Howe (19 saves); Green Bay, Reid Ellingson (14 saves).