Cedar Rapids RoughRiders knock off Dubuque on road, close in on Anderson Cup

DUBUQUE — The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders have the Anderson Cup in their strong, firm grasp. Unless there are a couple of slippy fingers, the well-regarded trophy will be theirs shortly.

The RoughRiders took a 2-0 lead and went on to knock off the Dubuque Fighting Saints, 3-1, Saturday night. Cedar Rapids got goals from Cal Burke, Jack Ahcan and Justin Cole to improve their United States leading standings point total to 81, seven ahead of second-place Bloomington overall and in the Eastern Conference.

The Riders are eight points up on Green Bay and nine on Dubuque, which has dropped from second to fourth in the division this weekend. Cedar Rapids has four regular-season games remaining, Bloomington three, Green Bay and Dubuque five each.

That means Bloomington has been eliminated from first-place consideration. Cedar Rapids plays games next week at Dubuque on Friday night and at home against Dubuque the following night.

The last two regular-season games are at Waterloo and Sioux City. It'd be surprising if the RoughRiders don't have the Anderson Cup clinched by then.

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