Roughriders Grab Tie against Top Rated Team in the Country

Roughriders celebrate their second goal.

Denver, CO - The Rocky Mountain Roughrider U16AAA took to the ice this afternoon against the top-rated U16AAA in the country, the St. Louis Jr. Blues. The Roughriders have yet to win a game in Tier I Elite League play, despite playing well in every game. Every game has been closely contested with all but one game decided by only a goal. The Roughriders have had a solid couple of weeks of development since their last Showcase and look to grab a couple of wins.

The opening series started out like so many other games this year with a lot of back and forth action in the first period, but no scoring. The Roughriders are still looking for a way to get fired up for first period action. The St. Louis Blues took advantage of the slow start by getting on the board first. Charlie Combs grabbed the first goal of the game at 15:37 of the first period giving the Blues a 1-0 lead.

The Showcase format consisted of three 17-minute periods with ice makes between periods. After the first ice make the Roughriders hit the ice with their usual second period vigor. Chad Pietroniro put the Roughriders on the board when his slapshot hit a Blues defenseman stick and deflected down and into the net at 5:36 of the second period knotting the game a one a piece. Assists on the play went to Brendan Bilotta and Dejon Marsh.

Caleb Pola found the net about a minute later on a tremendous individual effort. Pola managed to poke the puck free, run the puck down and fire a laser over the goal tenders left shoulder giving the Roughriders a 2-1 lead at 5:57 of the second period.

The Roughriders couldn't maintain the lead for long as Alex Jasiek brought the game back to twos at 8:03 of the second period when he snuck a rebound Jared Young. The remainder of the game would be skated even and end in a tie giving the Roughriders just their second point in 6 tries in Tier 1 Elite League play.

Jared Young managed 30 saves on 32 shots.


Official Gamesheet