WATERLOO - Lady Luck seemed to be riding the Waterloo Black Hawks' bench Saturday night, as they donned pink and purple jerseys donated by the Isle of Capri Casino.

The Black Hawks dealt the Green Bay Gamblers a 2-1 defeat at Young Arena, by scoring a very unusual game-winner in the third period.

Forward Siim Liivik parked himself in front of the Gamblers' net trying to get position on Green Bay goalie Aaron Crandall.

Liivik scored the winning tally off a blast from Jan Juutilainen from the point, but did not see the shot hit nylon as he had his back to the play.

"Yeah, I didn't see the score 'cause it bounced off my butt," said Liivik, a Helsinki, Finland, nativ. "Jan did a nice job hitting the shot, and I was turning and it just hit me there and went in. Hey, ya know, a point is a point."

Juutinlainen, also a native of Finland, fired the assist two minutes into the final period.

"Maybe we should play with these jerseys all the time," Liivik said of the tropical-style sweaters. "Nah, I didn't like the color, but I like that we will sell them for a good thing."

The Black Hawks swept the Gamblers in two games, wearing their Jimmy Buffet-style duds and will put the jerseys up for auction with the proceeds going to help Exceptional Persons Inc.

"I am thinking maybe we should keep these jerseys and auction off our black ones," Black Hawks coach P.K. O'Handley said. "They weren't pretty, but they were for a great cause."

As far as the color on the ice, the Hawks' skipper still has some reservations.

"We are still trying to find that consistency we need, and just when we think we have it, we stumble," O'Handley explained. "Our special teams have been carrying us to this point, and we had great play from Matt (DiGirolamo) in net. He made some nice saves tonight. We picked up some big points and that's what matters."

The Black Hawks picked up their first big point in the second period as Jordan Samuels-Thomas made good use of his 6-foot-2 frame.

Samuels-Thomas found an open spot near the crease and waited for the payoff from Craig Smith.

"I saw Craig come around and beat the defender so I just crashed the net and guided the puck in," Samuels-Thomas said. "Some nights you get the puck to bounce your way, and tonight we had some good bounces. It was good to win two in a row like this, and hopefully we carry this momentum on and start winning some more games."

Waterloo had surrendered a late first-period goal to the Gamblers, as Christian Morissette cashed in on a flurry in front of DiGirolamo, and nailed the top shelf for the go-ahead goal.

"We have some things we need to work on, but we also have good things going on," O'Handley stated. "Jordan has been playing great lately and can use his size to his advantage. He has the ability to be a big time player in this league."

The Black Hawks will try to continue their winning ways as they face off against Chicago Tuesday night.

Contact Rod Payne at sportsdoor@wcfcourier.com

Green Bay 1 0 0 - 1

Waterloo 0 1 1 - 2

FIRST PERIOD - 1. Green Bay, Christian Morissette (Taylor Johnson, Stephen Carew) 19:02. Penalties - Ryan Little, GB (highsticking) 7:13; Josh Levine, GB (hooking) 16:23; Chad Billins, Wat. (checking from behind) 18:26.

SECOND PERIOD - 2. Waterloo, Jordan Samuels-Thomas (Craig Smith, Mike Fink) 11:01. Penalties - None.

THIRD PERIOD - 3. Waterloo, Siim Liivik (Jan Juutilainen, Keegan Meuer) 2:15. Penalties - Smith, Wat. (high sticking) 3:02.

SHOTS ON GOAL

Green Bay 8 6 6 - 20

Waterloo 11 10 8 - 29

Goalies - Green Bay, Aaron Crandall (27 saves), Waterloo, Matt DiGirolamo (19 saves)

Officials - Referee, Tim Mayer. Linesmen, Bryan Pancich and Craig Kneale.

Att. - 3,500.