Megna, RoughRiders smoke Sioux City, 5-1

Jayson Megna originally was against playing hockey for the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders this season.

You couldn't blame him. He's 20 years old and turning 21 the first of February.

It's time to get a college career started.

"At the beginning of (last) year, I definitely wanted to try to move on ...," the Riders captain said after his four-point night helped his team to a 5-1 victory over Sioux City before 1,957 fans at The Stable. "But as the year progressed, I kind of saw more and more that I could use another year here. I want to go into college and be able to dominate. Play in the top six, the top two (forward) lines."

He'll easily accomplish that goal the way he is playing right now. Megna's two goals and two assists extended his point streak to 14 consecutive games and lifted the RoughRiders (12-3, 24 points) to their United States Hockey League-best 12th victory.

The Nebraska-Omaha commitment leads the USHL with 11 goals and is third in points (21) and plus-minus rating (plus-11). That's called dominating.

"Coach (Mark) Carlson told me that is was important to come back another year," Megna said. "I got stronger, more mature, I got summer training in. It's definitely paid off ... As opposed to last year, I was always questioning if I played well or not. I was worried about if I was going to play the next night. Now, it's like I've been through it before. I can relax more and kind of play my game and focus on the things I can control."

"He has really developed into a leader," Carlson said. "I think he has really showed what playing in this league a second year is all about. Being honest, I think there are some players who leave a year too early. Megs, he and his family, I believe were smart enough to decide to play another year and develop. Mature and get stronger, develop leadership skills. He's been fabulous as a captain, so far."

The Riders were fabulous in a four-goal third period that broke a 1-1 tie. Megna's first goal gave Cedar Rapids a 1-0 lead after a period, but Sioux City dominated the second with a 15-6 shots edge.

If it weren't for the outstanding play of goaltender Brady Hjelle (who had 29 saves overall), the RoughRiders would have been behind by multiple goals.

"I thought in the first period, we played really well," Carlson said. We played as well as we have all year for about 15 minutes. Then we started playing as individuals ... That gave them some momentum. Then we weren't focused in the second. In the third, we decided to play as a team again and were much better. Our discipline was great, our composure was great."

Megna's second goal, a snap shot from inside the right circle, put Cedar Rapids up for good just 1:02 into the third. Ryan McGrath had goals at 5:58 and 8:29 to put it out of reach and Tanner Pond added an interesting "empty netter" with four minutes to go.

The puck never actually went into the net. Pond was dragged down from behind inside the Musketeers zone but because the Sioux City defenseman did not touch the puck, it was ruled a goal. Had he touched the puck while pulling Pond down, it would have been a two-minute penalty instead.

Cedar Rapids had an 11-2 power-play advantage, with Sioux City appearing to lack any discipline in the third. The end of the game turned chippy, with RoughRiders equipment manager Matt Degel barking back and forth with a Sioux City assistant coach between the glass in between the benches.

Sioux City head coach Luke Strand had a long discussion on the ice with Carlson after the game, with the subject apparently being the penalty discrepancy. The Riders coach had a smile on his face as he turned away and headed toward the locker room.

As he should have on this night.

The Riders play Thursday night at Waterloo and host the Black Hawks on Friday night.

Here's video of McGrath's second goal and a link to the game boxscore:

http://ushl.stats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=1341401