SIOUX CITY, IA - The Dubuque Fighting Saints (10-2-1-1, 22 pts) dropped the final game of their three-game road stretch 9-4 to the Sioux City Musketeers (8-3-4-0, 20 pts) on Saturday night.
Dubuque started the scoring early with Teddy Merrill's second goal of the season after the Saints' forecheck forced a turnover. Andrew King made the play and found Merrill in front, but Dubuque's offense went quiet for a long stretch after that.
Merrill's goal came at 4:03 of the first and the Saints didn't strike again until Jayden Jubenvill's fifth of the season at 3:00 of the third. In between those two goals, Dubuque allowed seven unanswered goals by the Musketeers. That stretch included four in 4:59 late in the first period.
After the opening frame, Dubuque replaced Thatcher Bernstein with Kevin Reidler in net. Reidler made 14 saves in relief.
After being down six, Jubenvill's goal started the Saints on a three-goal run to cut the deficit to 7-4 with over 11 minutes to play. Jake Sondreal scored his ninth of the season on the power play and Fisher Scott scored his second of the year.
In the end, the Fighting Saints allowed two more Sioux City tallies and fell 9-4. In the loss, James Reeder logged two assists to record his fourth-straight multi-point game.
The Fighting Saints return home for a pair of games against Youngstown next weekend. It will be a matchup of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference.
