MUSKEGON - The fans at Trinity Health Arena on Friday night were treated to a goaltending duel as the Muskegon Lumberjacks (8-5-1-1, 18 pts) and Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (7-6-1-1, 16pts) played a very low offensive game that ended in a 2-1 RoughRiders win.

Scoring wasn't opened until the second period when Cedar Rapids scored two straight to take a 2-0 lead into the second intermission. Drew Stewart found the back of the net first at the 8:28 mark after Zach Sharp intercepted a breakout pass at the blueline and sent a pass to the middle of the slot. Stewart redirected the pass to the top corner of the net for the 1-0 lead.

Cedar Rapids doubled up 10 minutes later at the 18:57 mark after intercepting another stretch pass. This time Lucas Brennan took away the pass in the neutral zone and sent the puck up the near side wall to Riley Bassen. With Kason Muscott cutting towards the net Bassen moved towards the corner and centered the puck to Muscott who redirected it home.

Muskegon was able to find the back of the net in the third period by capitalizing on a 5-on-3 powerplay. Ethan Whitcomb (St. Catherines, ON, CAN) sent the puck out of the far side corner to Easton Young (Grand Rapids, MN) at the top of the circle. Sacha Boisvert (Trois-Rivieres, QC, CAN) was waiting in the middle of the slot for a pass and once he got it there was no mistake what was happening. Boisvert absolutely rocketed a one-time off-the-back bar for his team lead-tying 11th goal of the season.

In the end the comeback effort fell short and the Jacks wound up losing the game 2-1 to open the two-game weekend series against the RoughRiders.

Lukas Swedin (Stockholm, SWE) (3-2-1-1) played well for the Jacks stopping 22 of the 24 shots he faced, but was ultimately handed the loss. Sam Scopa (3-2-0-0) stopped 22 of the Jacks 23 shots in the winning effort for Cedar Rapids.

The teams close out the weekend series tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Trinity Health Arena. The Jacks will wear special Military Appreciation jerseys that will be auctioned off post-game. For tickets visit www.muskegonlumberjacks.com or visit the box office inside the VanDyke Mortgage Convention Center on game day.

Can't make it to the game? Don't worry. Catch the action on the official live stream partner of the USHL, FloHockey. A free radio stream is also available on the Lumberjacks Hockey Network on Mixlr.