RoughRiders rally, but fall short 3-2 in shootout

CEDAR RAPIDS - After digging themselves out of an early hole Friday night, the Cedar Rapids Roughriders fell just short in a shootout, losing to the Dubuque Saints, 3-2, at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

A crowed of about 2,400 saw Rider Greg Amalong tie the game at 2-2 with a shot just inside the blue line at 7:45 in the third period.

By Jeff Hare, Correspondent

Dubuque's Shane Sooth's shot from the right side, just past the outstretched arm of Rider goalie Jake Hildebrand - the third shot of the shootout - ended the game.

Dubuque started the scoring fairly quickly, hitting two goals in the first ten minutes. The Riders countered with a score on their first shot, a Tanner Pond goal off a nice set pass from Jack Rowe at the 11:22 mark of the period.

From there the defenses took over.

Cedar Rapids Coach Mark Carlson was pleased with the way Hildebrand played in stopping 39 of Dubuque's shots.

“I thought Hildy was outstanding in the goal tonight,” he said. “Dubuque is a good team and took some good shots, but he responded well and did a good job for us.”

Carlson was also pleased with his team's effort in coming back from the early deficit.

“We got down two early and kept pushing and came on very well,” he said. “In the shootout, we had one shot hit the bar and another on the line, but hockey is a game of inches. Tonight it was just a bit off.”

The Riders, who fell to 8-5, will travel to Dubuque Saturday night for a USH rematch.

“Dubuque is an outstanding team, and we know that,” Carlson said. “Saturday will be tough. We just have to figure out a way to get a little bit better between now and then.”