Dubuque, IA - The Fighting Saints scored early and never relinquished their lead in a 3-1 win over the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders on Saturday night.
The win completed the Saints' perfect 4-0 preseason record, kickstarted by Colin Frank's first goal of the preseason just 14 seconds into the game. Frank's goal came directly from a faceoff win by Charlie Arend to give the Saints the early lead.
Following Frank's goal Vojtêch Hambálek locked down the Riders' attack, stopping 28 of 29 shots en route to his second victory over Cedar Rapids in as many nights.
Hambálek stopped multiple quality chances, including a couple saves on a major penalty kill late in the third period. The Saints killed the entire five-minute penalty against Cooper Conway for cross checking in the final nine minutes of the game to hold a one-goal lead.
In the third, Melvin Ekman scored 2:52 in to extend the Saints' lead to 2-0. The goal came after Ekman had a goal waived off in the first minute of the period. Ekman finished the win with an empty-netter in the final minute of the third.
Dubuque finishes the preseason with four wins in as many games, scoring 21 goals in the process.
The Saints open the regular season on Wednesday at the Fall Classic in Pittsburgh where they take on the Sioux City Musketeers.