Dubuque, IA – The Dubuque Fighting Saints (25-13-2-0, 52 pts) fell 4-3 to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (20-12-2-4, 46 pts) on Friday night.
Three times on Friday night, the Fighting Saints scored within two minutes of allowing a goal. Despite the multiple quick responses, the Saints never led in the contest.
For the fifth-straight game, the Fighting Saints allowed the opening goal from Connor Davis late in the first. Colin Frank's 20th goal came just 1:16 later on a bounce off a RoughRiders' player. Charlie Arend and Michael Barron assisted to tie the game into the second period.
Following a scoreless second in which Dubuque was outshot 13-4, the RoughRiders took the lead at 6:38 of the third. Just 1:42 later, the Riders added to the lead with Nick Romeo's 19th of the season.
The Saints answered on a turnover with Xavier Lieb's fifth of the season into a vacated net 80 seconds after that and brought Dubuque within one.
At 12:50 of the third, Cooper Simon capitalized on a loose puck in the Saints zone to put the Riders back ahead by two. Again, Dubuque answered quickly. Melvin Ekman's 16th came just 28 seconds later.
Despite a late push, and a goalline scramble with 27 seconds left, Dubuque could not find a tying goal late.
The Saints were outshot 34-25 in the game and went scoreless on both power-play chances in the loss. The Saints return to action on Saturday for a road matchup in Green Bay.
