OMAHA, NE. - The Omaha Lancers opened their home regular season schedule with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Saturday night at Liberty First Credit Union Arena where the Lancers would look to acquire its first win of the season.
The first period started with the Lancers controlling play early on.
Eventually, momentum would shift after Lancer forward Aleksi Kivioja sends a RoughRider into the end boards as tempers would flare, giving Cedar Rapids some energy to work with moving forward into the opening frame.
Cedar Rapids would eventually score as the son of former Omaha Lancers head coach Bliss Littler, Cade Littler would sneak backdoor to cash in to give the RoughRiders the 1-0 lead.
The RoughRiders would not be done as the Lancers would pinch in the neutral zone to allow Cedar Rapids forward Landan Resendes to free up on a breakaway, as Resendes would score to go stretch the RoughRiders' lead at 2-0.
Tempers would pick back up again before the end of the period as Lancer forward David Deputy would run over Cedar Rapids netminder Rudy Guimond, which would ensue a scrum involving all skaters.
Despite the late period drama Cedar Rapids would head into the locker room with a 2-0 lead.
The second period picked up where it left off in the first with the RoughRiders continuing to pull away.
The scoring started with RoughRider forward Niko Tournas would whiff on the shot in the slot, but the puck would still find the back of the cage to give Cedar Rapids a 3-0 lead.
Cedar Rapids would not be done as later in the second forward Caleb Mahar would take a harmless looking wrist shot from the half boards, but Lancer netminder Eric Olsson was unable to corral it as Cedar Rapids would extend its lead at 4-0.
Seconds later after Olsson got pulled, Lancer netminder Mikhail Yegorov would also fall victim to a soft goal by Cedar Rapids as forward Riley Bassen beats Yegorov short-side to give the RoughRiders the lead heading into the third period of play.
The hatred between these two clubs continued into the third as Lancer forward Gabe Kenne threw down with RoughRider defenseman Colin Grable, it was the second fight of the night, and one of many scrums that ensued throughout the game.
The Lancers would manage to cash in on a powerplay opportunity as forward David Deputy received a feed in the slot from forward Jamison Sluys as Deputy snuck it by Guimond to make it 5-1.
The RoughRiders would hold off the Lancers for the rest of the game as they would win it 5-1 in a game that saw 146 total penalty minutes.
The Lancers are back in action Friday night in Dubuque to take on a high-powered Fighting Saints club. You can catch the game on Mixlr or FloSports. Puck drop is 7:05 PM CST.
