Rockford, Ill. - The Rockford IceHogs lost 4-2 during the second matchup of the season against the Iowa Wild on Friday night at the BMO Center. Iowa's Jake Lucchini scored twice for the Wild as Iowa split the season series with Rockford 1-1.

For the second straight game, the IceHogs struggled to score early and didn’t get a puck across the goal line until late in the second period. Iowa’s three scores in the second period separated the two teams, and Rockford was unable to climb back into contention despite outshooting the Wild 18-7 in the third period.

Iowa scored late in the first period on a puck that was initially saved by Rockford goaltender Drew Commesso, then rebounded to the right side of the crease and tapped in by Jake Lucchini to give Iowa a 1-0 lead into the second period (18:17).

Late into the second frame of action, Mike O’Leary brought the puck into the slot and dropped it off to Pavel Novak for a wrister into the lower right ninety to double Iowa’s lead 2-0 (2:58).

Midway through the second period, the IceHogs misplayed the puck in the Hogs defensive end. The puck was stolen by Greg Meireles who passed it to the right side of the crease for Lucchini to score his second goal of the night (11:29).

With just over five minutes in the second period, Iowa’s Brenden Miller was penalized for cross-checking to put Rockford on a power play advantage. David Gust received the puck off the faceoff at the blue line and passed to Anders Bjork at the right circle. Bjork’s pass found Brett Seney’s stick in front of the crease and was wristed into the net for a power-play goal (14:42). With his goal, Seney now leads the team with four power-play goals so far this season.

Iowa quickly responded with a goal tipped off of Jujhar Khaira’s stick to take a 4-1 lead.

The third period featured some early extracurriculars in the form of two roughing penalties and a boarding penalty that led to an odd-man advantage on the ice for the Hogs. While Rockford did not score on the power-play opportunity, it led to a scoring chance cutting the Wild’s lead down to two. Michal Teply battled for the puck on the right corner boards against a pair of Iowa Wild skaters. Teply managed to send a centering pass to Mike Hardman who sent a wrister into the net (4:45).

Commesso saved 22 of 26 and was handed his second loss of the season.

The IceHogs renew the I-90 rivalry with a matinee game on Sunday in Rosemont against the Chicago Wolves. Puck drop is at 3 p.m.