Riders eliminated

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders' season ended Tuesday night at the hands of the host Youngstown Phantoms with a 6-2 loss. The Phantoms swept the RoughRiders in the teams' best-of-three opening-round series in the USHL Clark Cup playoffs.

Cedar Rapids, the fifth seed in the USHL's Eastern Division, trailed the fourth-seeded Phantoms most of the contest.

With about 10 minutes left, the RoughRiders looked to mount a comeback with their fourth power play opportunity. Cedar Rapids' leading point-getter, Nick Saracino, dug a loose puck from the corner of his offensive end and found teammate Gerald Mayhew in front of the net for a quick shot on goal.

“It was good work by my linemates,” Mayhew said. “I got in front of the net, I called for the puck, Saracino was in the corner, got a good look and we made a nice play there.”

Mayhew's power-play goal, Cedar Rapids' first in twelve chances in the series, cut the visitors' deficit to 3-2.

“We were excited. I told a lot of the guys to just keep coming. We knew what we could do and what we had to do,” Mayhew added.

The momentum, however, was short-lived. About a minute later Phantoms forward Ryan Belonger stole an errant pass at center ice to create a two-on-one rush at goalie Jared Hildebrand. Belonger's slap shot bounced onto the waiting stick of linemate Soren Jonzzon, who tapped in the rebound to give the Phantoms a 4-2 lead.

Youngstown got two open-net goals to end it.

“Hockey's a game of mistakes and they capitalized on a couple of mistakes that we made. That's hockey,” Cedar Rapids Coach Mark Carlson said.

While goalie Jared Hildebrand and Mayhew could only describe the season-ending loss as one of the worst a hockey player can face, Carlson praised his team's efforts.

“I thought our guys developed really well,” he said. “We'll get on the training program, look forward to the draft, and start getting ready for next season.”