Dubuque, IA – The Dubuque Fighting Saints (30-15-3-0, 63 pts) host the Waterloo Black Hawks (12-30-2-2, 28 pts) to begin a home-and-home series on Friday.
Here are five things to know ahead of the matchup:
1. Cowbell Cup
The Fighting Saints are vying for a seventh-straight Cowbell Cup title and lead the competition with five games remaining against their in-state rivals.
Friday is the first matchup in Cowbell-Cup play between the Saints and the Black Hawks, with all four still remaining on the schedule entering the weekend.
2. Playoff Push
There are 14 games remaining in the regular season for the Fighting Saints with eight of those against teams in the top-six of the Anderson Cup Standings.
Dubuque (63 pts) skates twice against Waterloo this weekend, while Green Bay (66 pts) hosts Youngstown (74 pts) twice and Madison once. Muskegon (61 pts) visits Omaha for a series on Saturday and Sunday.
3. Frank Files
Colin Frank has 98 points in his Saints career, two away from becoming the 11th player in team history to reach 100 points.
Frank enters the weekend with career highs in goals and points so far this season, scoring 24 goals and 43 points over 38 games for Dubuque. Frank's previous career marks were set last season with 13 goals and 40 points.
4. Saints Scores
Last week, Dubuque lost for the first two times this season when scoring four-plus goals after 25-straight wins when reaching four goals in a game to start the season.
The Saints have scored five-plus goals 18 times this season, logging an 18-0-0-0 record over those contests. The Saints scored five in the only previous matchup against the Hawks this season, a 5-2 Dubuque win on Sept. 18.
5. Hawk Talk
Waterloo enters the weekend in 14th place out of 16 teams in the USHL, scoring the third-fewest goals in the USHL at 128.
The Black Hawks have dropped 14-straight contests entering the weekend series, but earned a point on Saturday in an overtime loss against league-leading Youngstown.
Friday's puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CST at ImOn Arena and tickets are available here. The game can be found on Eagle 102.3 and FloHockey.
