The Green Bay Gamblers came up just short in a Friday night thriller, falling 5-4 to the Waterloo Black Hawks at the Resch Center.

The opening period saw plenty of action as the Gamblers jumped ahead early. Caleb Katz tallied his fifth goal of the season on the power play at 10:55, assisted by Aidan O’Sullivan and Jakub Rozsival. Less than two minutes later, Zach Gulley added his first of the year to make it 2-0 Green Bay.

Waterloo responded quickly, however, as Tate Whiterabbit scored at 12:49 and Leo Jette added another at 15:12 to tie things up 2-2 heading into intermission.

The Black Hawks took control in the second period, netting three straight goals from Jaxson Mason, Adam Lefere, and Oskar Eriksson, who scored on the power play to put Waterloo up 5-2. Gulley struck again for Green Bay late in the period, cutting the deficit to 5-3.

In the third, Nate Knutson brought the Gamblers within one just two minutes in, but that would be as close as they’d get. Despite outshooting Waterloo 29-26, Green Bay couldn’t find the last equalizer.

Waterloo goaltender Nicholas Salajko earned the win with 25 saves, while Green Bay’s Aiden Slavick stopped 11 of 16 shots before Mateo Henriquez came in relief, turning away all 10 he faced.

The loss drops Green Bay to 2-4-0-1 on the season, while Waterloo improves to 3-2-0-0. The teams are set to meet again Saturday night at the Resch Center.