USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints

Fighting Five: Saints Host RoughRiders

Published on February 9, 2024 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release


DUBUQUE, IA - The Dubuque Fighting Saints (25-9-2-3, 55 pts) host the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (14-19-4-2, 34 pts) on Friday night to open a home Cowbell Cup weekend.

Here are five things to know ahead of the matchup:

1. Cowbell Cup

Entering the weekend, the Fighting Saints are tied with Waterloo at the top of the Cowbell Cup standings with 20 points each. The Saints host the Black Hawks on Saturday night.

The Riders are in fourth-place in the Cowbell Cup standings with nine points, trailing Des Moines by four.

2. Forty Friday

Friday's contest against Cedar Rapids is the Saints' 40th game of the season. Dubuque has 25 wins in the first 39 games and has only lost nine times in regulation.

As the Saints reach the two-thirds mark of the season this weekend, they sit atop the Eastern Conference. Over the first 39 games, the Saints lead the conference in goals scored, have the best power-play in the league and have the second-best penalty kill in the league.

3. February Fun

The Fighting Saints play five of their eight February games at home and enter the weekend with a 10-4-0-3 record at home.

In last Friday's home contest against Chicago to open February, Noah Powell scored in overtime to finish a hat trick and give Dubuque the victory. Powell and Juraj Pekarcik combined for nine points in the victory over the Steel with each recording career-highs. Powell added an assist to his hat trick, while Pekarcik tied a single-game Saints record with five points (1-4-5) in the win.

4. A Perfect 10

Jake Sondreal has 17 points over the last 10 games, with points in each of the 10 contests. He has four goals and 13 assists in that span.

The captain continues to hold a lead at the top of the USHL point-scoring ranks with 51. Sondreal has nine power-play goals this season, scoring three in the last four games. Sondreal leads the league with 21 power-play points as well.

5. Riding Roads

The Riders have eight of their 14 wins on the road this season, including a 5-2 victory in the last meeting between the teams on Jan. 19 in Dubuque.

However, last weekend, the RoughRiders dropped both games in a road series at Youngstown. Defenseman Erik Kald scored twice in the last game against Youngstown and has seven points in his last 11 games.

Friday's game begins at 7:05 p.m. CST and tickets can be purchased here. The game can be found on Eagle 102.3 and FloHockey

Check out the Dubuque Fighting Saints Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United States Hockey League Stories from February 9, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central