WATERLOO - This, typically, is when Party Town truly reaches a fever pitch.

April is around the corner. Entering Friday, a scant six games remained in the United States Hockey League regular season.

The playoffs are approaching fast, and Waterloo Black Hawks' fans are well prepared.

And, on the ice sheet, the players' pulse seemed to quicken Friday, as they appeared to be in prime form in a 3-0 win over Sioux Falls before a crowd of 2,616.

"Our guys have taken it to another level. We need to sustain that," said coach P.K. O'Handley, whose Waterloo club has already clinched a playoff berth and improved to 21-1-2 this season when leading after two periods.

Waterloo, now 33-17-5 overall with 71 points, entered the night 2-0 this season against Sioux Falls. The Stampede, however, also arrived in the Cedar Valley with a nine-game road winning streak.

But the Black Hawks controlled every phase of this game, whether it be in the attacking zone, in the neutral zone or on defense - where they didn't allow league points leader Jack Connolly a sniff at a score.

The Black Hawks, now 19-4-4 on their home ice this season, were on the offensive early and peppered goalie Kevin Hartzell to the tune of 24 shots in the game's first 24 minutes. The offensive onslaught finally paid dividends at the four-minute, 15-second mark of the second period, when Waterloo defenseman Drew MacKenzie ripped a wrister to the back of the net on the power play, handing the hosts a 1-0 advantage.

"That was a playoff-esque game," said the 19-year-old. "(But) we pounced on our opportunities."

Waterloo essentially salted away the win with nearly 15 minutes remaining, when forward Nick Larson batted home a loose puck. Regardless, for good measure, Larson's fellow forward, Jan-Mikael Juutilainen, lit the lamp barely 60 seconds later.

Meanwhile, Waterloo netminder Joe Howe held his own, turning back shot after shot. The 18-year-old reeled off 26 total saves on the evening.

Howe, said O'Handley, "made saves that counted."

And, if this was a rehearsal for the playoffs, the patrons of Party Town are clearly ready for show time. The hockey-crazed fans were in full-throat throughout the opening 10 minutes of the third period.

Tonight should be more of the same, as the intensity continues to spike. East Division leader Indiana is set to invade Young Arena.

"It's a big game," said O'Handley, smiling. "We were watching the scoreboard (Friday) with Des Moines and Indiana."

By night's end, Waterloo had inched closer to first place, after Indiana endured a setback - a little more to get the Party Town crowd going crazy.

Contact Kelly Beaton

at (319) 291-1456

or kelly.beaton@wcfcourier.com

Black Hawk bits …

RASH OF RECENT COLLEGE DEFECTIONS: As one might have noticed with a quick glance at this year's NCAA Division I hockey tournament field, several recent college stars left their team before season's end this year. The pattern has persisted long enough that it was the subject of a Sports Illustrated article this week.

The rash of college defections has had a trickle-down effect to the USHL, as evidenced by stars like Cedar Rapids' Robin Bergman. Bergman, a talented Swede, played at Notre Dame until leaving South Bend in January. Now, he's scoring goals in the slot for the Black Hawk's I-380 rival and could be a key factor in the looming postseason.

How does Waterloo's O'Handley feel about this recent trend?

"Kids leaving school, if they're doing it for hockey reasons, I don't agree with it," said the veteran coach. "But it's part of the business, and you have to deal with it."

TOURNAMENT TIME: Sticking with the NCAA tournament theme, nine of the 16 qualifiers for this year's Division I field possess at least one former Black Hawk player on their current roster. Brett Barta is currently skating for St. Cloud, for instance, while other Waterloo alumni in the NCAAs include: Vince LoVerde (Miami); Tim Filangieri (Boston College); Thomas Fortney, Mike Radja, Matt Fornataro and Kevin Regan (New Hampshire); Mike Testwuide and Drew O'Connell (Colorado College); Garrett Regan (Notre Dame); Matt Arhontas (Princeton); Andrew Thomas and J.P. Testwuide (Denver), and Josh Turnbull, Andy Bohmbach, and Zach Bearson (Wisconsin).

KEEPING 'EM ON ICE: The Black Hawks shouldn't be lacking confidence in tonight's showdown with first-place Indiana. Waterloo is 4-0-2 against the Ice this season.

Sioux Falls 0 0 0 - 0

Waterloo 0 1 2 - 3

FIRST PERIOD - No scoring. Penalties - Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Waterloo (high-sticking), 1:07; Robbie Vrolyk, Sioux Falls (too many men on ice), 1:48; John Lee, Waterloo (hooking), 13:08; Gabe Guentzel, Sioux Falls (interference), 17:37; Max Grover, Sioux Falls (hooking), 17:54; Lee, Waterloo (interference), 18:49.

SECOND PERIOD - 1. Waterloo, Drew MacKenzie (Lee), pp, 4:15. Penalties - Marc Rodriguez, Sioux Falls (hooking), 2:44; Kris Reinthaler, Sioux Falls (holding), 8:00; Craig Smith, Waterloo (interference), 10:02; Chad Billins, Waterloo (slashing), 13:11; Reinthaler, Sioux Falls (delay of game), 19:34; Nick Larson, Waterloo (delay of game), 19:34.

THIRD PERIOD - 2. Waterloo, Nick Larson (Billy Maday, Brett Olson), pp, 4:43; 3. Waterloo, Jan-Mikael Juutilainen (MacKenzie), 5:57. Penalties - Samuels-Thomas, Waterloo (roughing), 1:34; Brett Beebe, Waterloo (bench minor), 1:34; Patrick Divjak, Sioux Falls (high-sticking), 4:09; Jacob Drewiske, Sioux Falls (delay of game), 10:54; Keegan Meuer, Waterloo (delay of game), 10:54; Matt Farris, Sioux Falls (delay of game), 19:42; MacKenzie, Waterloo (delay of game), 19:42.

SHOTS ON GOAL

Sioux Falls 4 13 9 - 26

Waterloo 17 13 10 - 40

Goalies - Sioux Falls, Eric Hartzell (37 saves); Waterloo, Joe Howe (26 saves).

Referee - Curtis Marouelli. Linesmen - Jud Ritter, Daniel Helbach. Att. - 2,616.