Saints Complete Preseason with Win Over Steel
September 15, 2024 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release
DUBUQUE, IA - The Dubuque Fighting Saints completed a preseason weekend-sweep of the Chicago Steel with a 6-4 win on the road Saturday night.
For the second-consecutive night, the Fighting Saints scored first when Melvin Ekman bashed in a puck from the blue paint at 7:56 of the opening period. Jonathan Morello and Cooper Dennis assisted as the Saints opened the scoring.
Less than a minute later, a night after scoring twice, Dennis blasted a one-timer past Louka Cloutier on a feed from Matthew Desiderio. Morello added his second assist of the first period, too.
Morello and Desiderio continued an assist-filled first period for each, setting up Michael Barron for his first of the playoffs on the power play. Morello logged three assists in the first and Desiderio recorded a pair to create four goals over the weekend.
Dubuque scored three more times in the second period, taking a 6-1 lead into the final frame. Josh Giuliani scored for the second-straight game, before Torkel Jennersjö and Heikki Ruohonen each added their first goals of the preseason. Kristian Kostadinski and Luke Malboeuf assisted on both Giuliani and Jennersjö's goals. Sean Barnhill added a helper for Ruohonen's power-move to the net with 2.5 seconds left in the second.
Chicago added a couple late power-play goals in regulation to get within two, but the Saints held on for the win. Dubuque's power play scored twice in seven chances on Saturday, doubling its output from the first three preseason games.
Dylan Johnson played all 60 minutes for Dubuque in the win, making 16 saves in his first win of the preseason.
Dubuque completes the preseason with a 2-2 record and will head to Cranberry Twp, Pennsylvania to open the regular season at the USHL Dick's Sporting Goods Fall Classic on Wednesday night against the Sioux City Musketeers.
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