'Woody' helps RoughRiders win opener

URBANDALE - The chant began immediately in the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders locker room.

“Woody, Woody, Woody!” a happy group shouted, as Jordan DiGiando was summoned for an interview following last night's season-opening 7-4 win over Des Moines at Buccaneer Arena.

“Hey, you've got to call him Woodpecker,” winning goalie Troy Grosenick said. “That's what Coach calls him.”

Woody, or Woodpecker, is a rookie forward from Gahanna, Ohio. DiGiando acquired his nickname because he's the only guy on his team who eschews the typical composite hockey stick made of materials like carbon fiber, fiberglass or aluminum in favor of good old-fashioned wood.

“I think I might be the only guy in the league who uses one,” said DiGiando, whose goal with 5:43 left broke a 4-4 tie. “You can feel the puck better, I think. Just kind of the way I shoot, my snapshot, I think I get better speed off of the wood stick.”

Wood or composite sticks, it was all good for the RoughRiders, who watched a 4-2 third-period lead disappear, only to respond late. DiGiando's winner from the right faceoff circle was followed by goals from Chad Hudson and Nick Lappin, as Cedar Rapids scored three in two minutes.

“We've got lots of new players, and I thought for the most part, coming into a building that's tough to play in to begin with, I thought that we played pretty well,” said Riders Coach Mark Carlson. “The things that we need to improve on we can improve on. It was just nice to see that we didn't panic.”

Jeff Costello scored twice and Zach Lehrke and Sam Warning once to give the Riders a 4-2 lead headed to the final 20 minutes, but Des Moines tied it with a goal from H.T. Lenz at the 3:20 mark and Connor Brickley at 11:06. Cedar Rapids regrouped, with Woody leading the way.

“They got a couple right away, but it didn't rattle us,” Costello said. “We just kept playing our game. One went in, then another went in, and the rest is history.”

“This was a blast,” DiGiando said. “Probably one of the funnest games I've ever played.”