'Grandpa' wins it late for RoughRiders

CEDAR RAPIDS - David Boehm was referred to as the old man last night. After all, at 20, he is the oldest Cedar Rapids RoughRider and has a year and a half college hockey experience at UMass.

“Aw, come on,” Boehm said in mock disgust after his goal with 53.6 seconds left gave the Riders a thrilling 3-2 win over Youngstown before 3,444 fans at The Stable. “You're going to pull that one on me? It's because of my goatee, isn't it?

“Actually, one of their guys was chirping at me during the game. He said ‘What are doing in this league? You're a grandpa.'”

As long as grandpa keeps getting it done.

Boehm banged home a loose puck in front of the net to allow his team to win for the sixth time in seven games. The Riders (21-15-2, 44 points) are 8-3 since the holiday break, with all three losses coming by just one goal.

“We didn't play our best game tonight,” said Riders Coach Mark Carlson. “But it should be a good sign that we found a way to win.”

Cason Hohmann and Eric Robinson also had goals for Cedar Rapids, which saw former Rider Brett Gensler tie this game at 2-2 with 9:30 left. The winning play came after a bad turnover in its own zone by Youngstown.

Defenseman Bryce Aneloski ended up with an open slap shot from the right point that goalie Matthew Mahalak kicked out. The puck stayed in the crease, however, with Jayson Megna getting a piece of it and sending it to Boehm at the left of the net.

“Grandpa” buried it. This coming after a goal and three assists in his first game back with Cedar Rapids on Friday night.

Boehm played the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons in Cedar Rapids. He recently decided to leave UMass.

“It was breath taking when I scored that game winner,” said Boehm. “I felt like I was part of this team before I even got here (this week) ... I'm always a RoughRider. These guys have welcomed me with open arms. I'm trying to take a leadership position, trying to help these guys win a championship.”

"If you ask me what I like best (about him) it would be a tie," Carlson said. "His offensive production, obviously."

Carlson then said he noticed Boehm put his arm around young teammate Peter Sakaris in the penalty box during Friday night's 10-1 win over Sioux Falls in encouragement.

"Those things are going to be huge for our club," Carlson said. "He makes a lot of these guys feel good, and he's so personable. We need that.

"We thought about a lot of the things that he would bring us, and that was as important as the on-ice stuff. If we didn't think David was going to help our locker room, he would't be here."

The RoughRiders have a weekend in Nebraska up next, with games at Lincoln and Omaha.

Here's the game boxscore: https://www.pointstreak.com/stats/pro/boxscore.html?gameid=1049075