Rampage rally nets first franchise victory

CEDAR RAPIDS – After a painful loss to Chicago in the first game of a back-to-back, one had to wonder how the Cedar Rapids Rampage would react just 24 hours later.

Turns out, there's plenty of fight in this bunch.

Rampage midfielder Alex Megson recorded a third-quarter hat trick and forward Chile Farias scored the tying and winning goals as Cedar Rapids earned its first franchise victory with a rally from a 7-2 deficit to stun the St. Louis Ambush, 9-7, in front of 2,984 jubilant fans Saturday night at the U.S. Cellular Center.

'It was a tough game (Friday) night,' Cedar Rapids Coach Jeff Kraft said of the Chicago loss. 'It took a lot out of us. I kept the same guys in. Being down the way we were, just come out the second half and show no matter what the score is, you're always in this game no matter what. And they deserve this. The fans deserved it.'

Cedar Rapids (1-7) appeared to be suffering a significant hangover from the Chicago loss as four first-half goals by St. Louis forward Gordy Gurson gave the Ambush a 6-2 halftime lead. The lead ballooned to 7-2 on a Richard Schmermund goal with 5:21 left in the third quarter.

'Even when you're losing by five goals,' Farias said, 'you have to have the mentality to say, 'Hey guys, we're still in this game. Let's keep working.''

Megson heeded that advice with an electrifying hat trick to close the third quarter. Megson's three-goal flurry arrived in a total of 41 seconds, giving the home team all the momentum heading into the final quarter.

'I feel like I always play for my team,' Megson said. 'After coming out for the second half, I decided I was always going to make the trusting run, have belief in my teammates and the runs I was making. They were finding me the ball in that shift. I just kept going because I was feeling good.'

Rampage defender Alex Tozer's first goal of the season pulled Cedar Rapids within a goal, then Farias struck twice against St. Louis backup goalkeeper Piotr Sliwa, who replaced starter Marcelo Moreira in the first quarter due to injury.

'I said to the guys,' Farias said, 'we need to shoot on the goal. The goalie's not good. … From far way, you need to shoot. We scored like four goals like that.'

The victory pulls Cedar Rapids from the bottom of the Central Division. St. Louis (0-7) stands alone without a win.

'We stuck together as a family,' Kraft said. 'We did what we had to do.'

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com