RoughRiders lose their 8th in 9 games, 2-1, to Team USA

CEDAR RAPIDS - Even the goal judge thought the game would be tied.

He prematurely turned on his red light as the puck slid across the crease to Austin Ortega at the side of a gaping net in the final five seconds Sunday. This was a slam dunk, as easy a goal as the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders winger is going to get.

Only it wasn't. The puck hopped over Ortega's stick and harmlessly away.

“I just completely missed,” he said. “We're not getting the right bounces or anything right now.”

Or wins. Especially not wins. A 2-1 loss to Team USA at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena was the eighth in nine games for the Riders.

It's not like they're getting massively outplayed. Quite the opposite, considering this stretch includes two losses in a shootout and two in overtime.

Perhaps that's why players lingered at their stalls postgame. This was a forlorn locker room, reminiscent of what you see when a team is eliminated from the playoffs.

“I'd say there is a little frustration building up,” Riders defenseman Greg Amlong said. “We're working hard day in and day out to get wins. The bounces aren't going our way, pucks aren't going in the cage, we're hitting (goal) posts. We're losing in overtime, we're struggling in shootouts. I really don't know what to say.”

The thing Sunday was that Riley Bourbonnais gave Cedar Rapids (8-6-6, 22 points) the first goal of a game for the first time in nine games, scoring midway through the first period. But that was it, as the younger of the two United States national development program's teams (under 17) scored twice in the second.

“As a team, I think we need to focus more throughout the whole 60 minutes,” said Riders captain Stu Wilson. “I feel like there are certain times where we kind of get away from our game, and it ends up costing us on the scoreboard.”

An 0-for-3 weekend, with the USHL's best club coming to town Friday. The Green Bay Gamblers have a 17-3-1 record.

All the injuries, all the close losses. Tough times indeed for the green and black.

"Guys have got to raise their level a little bit, you know what I mean?" said RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson. "They've got to step up and get the job done. Make that play, whether it's to score a goal or to prevent a goal. Then there's your difference (in these games)."

Here is a link to the game boxscore:

http://ushl2011.stats.pointstreak.com/gamesheet_full.html?gameid=1660459