Chicago Beats 1st Place Cedar Rapids
Story By: Steve Jankowski
Bensenville (February 21st, 2009) --  The Chicago Steel are rolling, and they don't care who is in their way.  

Saturday night, the Steel put their six-game winning streak on the line against a Cedar Rapids RoughRiders team which is holding the USHL's best record.  When the final horn sounded, the Steel emerged victorious by a 3-1 score. 

For the second straight night, Chicago got on the board early, when Brett Beebe (Western Michigan University) picked up a rebound in front of the goal and tucked the puck past Cedar Rapids netminder Mike Johnson 3:22 into the game. 

Midway through the first, Dean Chelios (Michigan State University) carried the puck down left wing, but Cedar Rapids' defense closed in on him and knocked him off the puck.  Josh Balch (Yale University) picked up the puck and skated in on Johnson and backhanded the puck over his glove to give the Steel a two-goal lead heading into the second period. 

Chicago held that two-goal lead for most of the middle frame, but Cedar Rapids' Jeff Costello cut the lead in half with 2:30 left in the second, however, the Steel would regain their two-goal margin in dramatic fashion. 

With time winding down, Balch sent Andrew Miller (Yale University) down the right wing where Miller would unleash a slap shot from just below the top of the right face-off circle, over Johnson's blocker and under the crossbar with one-tenth of a second left on the clock.  The goal was MIller's league-leading 27th of the season. 

Cedar Rapids had chances to get back within one, including a 6-on-4 with the goalie pulled while on a power-play.  Nick Pisellini and the rest of the Steel defense held the RoughRiders at bay to preserve the 3-1 victory. 

Pisellini (6-5-1) stopped 37 of 38 Cedar Rapids shots to earn the win, and the game's number 3 star. 

Despite the victory, the Steel were unable to gain ground on Waterloo, as the Black Hawks defeated the Lincoln Stars to remain three points ahead of the Steel in the race for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division. 

The Steel will return to action next Friday night at home in a re-match with the RoughRiders at 7:30 p.m.  Tickets for all Steel home games can be ordered by calling the Steel Box Office at 630.594.1165.