NEW ULM — Playing without their top three scorers, the New Ulm Steel made a game of it but came up short.

Kearby Larson’s goal at the 11:58 mark of the second period gave Granite City a 2-0 lead and that score proved to be the game-winner as the Lumberjacks edged New Ulm 2-1 Friday night in an NA3HL game at the New Ulm Civic Center.

Glavine Schugel scored the lone goal for New Ulm — his third of the season — on assists from Stanislav Danaev and Teddy Lillico.

Steel goalie A.J. Cohen stopped 28 of 30 Lumberjacks shots.

“From a coaching standpoint, when your top line is out (a line that combined for 19 goals and 33 assists) with leading scorer Jacob Halvorson in Alaska now with (NAHL) Chippewa and (Michael) Savelkoul out this game and Keegan Bauman (8-9) out with a shoulder injury, losing 2-1 to a team like Granite — our guys did a good job,” Steel coach Zack Stepan said.

The Steel, who host St. Louis next Friday and Saturday, fell behind 2-0 before Schugel got New Ulm on the board for its lone score.

Stepan said that he had to piecemeal his lines together and they did well.

“I had Denis Denisov, Brian Oare and Jacob Zowin on one line with John Klus, Marcus Mack and Jacob Berkowitz line also played well. And Cohen did a good job in goal (New Ulm was outshot 30-19 in the game) for us.”

Stepan is hoping to have both Savelkoul and Bauman back for next weekends game with Halvorson remaining in Chippewa after his call-up to the NAHL team on Wednesday.