By Brian Tosti/Bloomington Thunder
BLOOMINGTON, Illinois – Despite an early lead, the Bloomington Thunder could not hang on against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, who walked away with a 6-3 win Saturday night. The Thunder (8-7-2-1) are now tied with the RoughRiders (9-6-1-0) for third place in the Eastern Conference. Bloomington is now 1-1-1-0 against Cedar Rapids in their head to head series this season and 2-2-1-1 in the month of November.
The first period opened with the Thunder on top 2-0 through 10 minutes of the period. Noah Delmas (Niagara University) scored his first USHL goal on a one timer from the blue line. The puck worked to the first year USHL defenseman who stepped in and rifled the puck to the back of the net.
Later in the period, the Thunder capitalized on their only power play of the frame to make it 2-0. Jake Slaker (St. Lawrence University) stopped a hard pass from Tarek Baker (University of Minnesota) before netting a backhanded goal behind goaltender Ben Blacker (Western Michigan University). The captain picked up his third goal of the season as Baker extended his team leading 11 points (4g, 7a) on the season.
The RoughRiders countered back quickly netting two goals in just over two minutes. Johnny DeRoche (Quinnipiac University) picked up his first goal of the season on a rebound, and then the RoughRiders answered again. Ross Colton (University of Vermont) fired a one timer from the near side on a pass from Jack Ahcan (St. Cloud State University).
Matt Gosiewski (Harvard University) netted the lone goal of the second period. On a low angle shot, the Harvard commit put the puck under the crossbar to give Cedar Rapids the 3-2 lead. With Cedar Rapids leading in the shot totals, Hayden Lavigne (University of Michigan) turned aside 20 shots though two periods for the Thunder and eventually made 22 saves in the game.
The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders opened the third period with a goal from Colton, who found a loose puck off the side of the net just over a minute in. Later, the Thunder were put on another penalty kill, but took advantage of the situation. Blake Gober stopped a breakout for the RoughRiders and forwarded the puck to Logan Lambdin for a breakaway. The second year forward scored his team leading sixth of the season to make it 4-3.
Just over a minute later, the RoughRiders managed to score on the power play. Mitch Reinke (Michigan Tech University) took a slap shot from the point through a screen. Lavigne couldn’t see the shot and the puck slipped by to make it 5-3. Lavigne exited the game and Logan Halladay entered for the Thunder with just under 16 minutes to play.
Luke Morgan (Lake Superior State University) netted the final tally for the RoughRiders after a puck bounced to the far side of the net with five minutes to play. Halladay finished the night with seven saves. The Thunder were 1-3 on the power play, while the RoughRiders were 1-4.
Bloomington will be on the road at Chicago for the second time in less than a week this Wednesday, Nov. 25. Their 7 p.m. game will be a rematch of the 3-2 overtime win for the Thunder on Friday night.
