'Riders take F Master with 1st pick in USHL draft

The second phase of the United States Hockey League begun late Tuesday afternoon and was still going on as midnight approached. The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders appeared to have done Master-fully.

That's as in 18-year-old forward Nick Master, who the club took, with it first pick. The Broomhall, Pa., native has been playing with the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers program.

He is a 6-foot, 160-pounder who has committed to play college hockey at Massachusetts-Lowell.

"Nick Master has been a good player for awhile and just keeps getting better with each level he climbs," Jr. Flyers assistant coach Bill Swahl said on the team website. "I saw Nick playing as a Bantam and just knew he would turn out to be that special player."

Cedar Rapids had the fifth pick in the second phase. The second phase of the draft (formerly known as the USHL Entry Draft) lasted until each of the 15 teams had 45 total players, including possible returning veterans and an affiliate list of previously protected younger players.

Monday was the first phase (formerly the Futures Draft) and consisted of eight rounds of players with a 1997 birthdate. The RoughRiders did not have a first-round pick in the first phase because they officially tendered Russian defenseman Ivan Provorov over a month ago. In the second round, the club took forward Austin Alger of suburban Detroit.

The Riders' second-round selection Tuesday was defenseman Christian Meike. The 17-year-old is playing for the D.C. Capitals program and is a University of Michigan commit.

With the first of back-to-back third-round picks, the RoughRiders selected goaltender Danny Tirone, a Connecticut native and University of New Hampshire commitment who has played for both Shattuck St. Mary's (Minn.) and Loomis-Chaffee (Conn.) prep schools. Tirone was named prep school player of the year for 2013 by U.S. Hockey Report.

Defenseman Jerad Rosburg from Maryland and the Ohio Jr. Blue Jackets was selected immediately after Tirone. Because of trades, the Riders didn't have another pick until the fifth round, where they took forward Alex Funk from Rochester (Minn.) Lourdes High School.

In the seventh round, Cedar Rapids drafted tiny center Brendan Harris. The Las Vegas native is 5-foot-7 and 140 pounds and has committed to play at St. Cloud State.

Also in the seventh, the Riders took 6-foot-4 defenseman Aaron Titcomb, a Massachusetts native who has committed to play at Merrimack College. Left winger Mitchell Fossier (Alpharetta, Ga.) was an eighth-round pick and defenseman Seamus Donohue (St. Thomas Academy/Minnesota) a ninth-rounder.

The Riders' tryout camp is May 30 through June 2 at the Ice Arena.