The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders continued their strong late season push, extending their league leading point streak to 11 games with a 6-4 victory over the Green Bay Gamblers on Friday night, followed by a hard fought 4-2 team win Saturday night at The Stable.
Friday night featured a highly intense and physical matchup between the two rivals. The teams combined for 166 penalty minutes, four fights and 10 total goals in an action packed contest.
Grant Young led the way offensively, scoring twice including the game winning goal with just one minute remaining in regulation to give the Riders a 5-4 lead. Jackson Fox sealed the victory with an empty net goal with 12 seconds left to secure the 6-4 win.
Goaltender Joseph Skidmore stopped 16 shots to earn his ninth victory of the season.
Justin Graf recorded an assist in the win to become the first RoughRiders player to reach the 50 point mark this season. The Riders also reached another milestone Friday night as the team surpassed the 200 goal mark for the season.
Hawke Huff recorded two assists Friday, marking his eighth game this season with two or more assists.
Saturday night the Riders followed up with another strong effort, earning a 4-2 victory.
Nick Romeo scored goals 26 and 27 of the season, with the latter standing as his fourth game winning goal of the year. Romeo has now extended his point streak to six games with 10 points during that stretch.
David Bosco continued his scoring streak as well, scoring Friday and adding an empty net goal Saturday to secure the win. Bosco has now scored in five consecutive games, the longest active streak in the USHL.
Ryan Cameron stopped 20 of 22 shots Saturday night to earn his 20th win of the season.
The Riders penalty kill was perfect over the weekend, going 3 for 3, and Sully Miller added a short handed goal. Cedar Rapids also outshot Green Bay 65-42 across the two games.
Connor Davis continued his offensive production with two assists Friday and another Saturday, giving him nine points in his last four games and making him the fifth RoughRiders player to reach 40 points this season.
Ruben Westerling recorded one assist Friday and three assists Saturday, extending his point streak to five games, while Hawke Huff added another assist Saturday to extend his point streak to six games with nine points.
With the wins, the Riders improve to 15-7-5 at The Stable and 29-16-9 overall.
The Riders hit the road Tuesday night for a Cowbell Cup matchup in Des Moines, before traveling to Kearney, Nebraska to take on the Tri City Storm Friday and Saturday. The RoughRiders return to The Stable on Wednesday, March 25, with only four regular season home games remaining.
