General 2/20/2026 10:57:00 PM Calvin Bush

Scantlebury's Overtime Winner Downs RoughRiders

Shorter, Crowder score regulation goals; Louhivaara stops 38 of 40 shots

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA — After a third-period goal by Cedar Rapids forced overtime, James Scantlebury scored the game-winner with 24 seconds to spare as the Chicago Steel (21-18-6-2, 50 pts.) defeated the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (22-16-3-5, 52 pts.) 3-2 in overtime at ImOn Ice Arena Friday night.

Chicago held a 2-1 lead heading to the third before surrendering the tying goal, but Veeti Louhivaara stopped 38 of 40 shots, including all 15 shots he faced in the third period and three more in overtime, to record his sixth win of the season.

Trevor Shorter scored his second goal of the season and Jackson Crowder tallied his team-leading 15^th goal. James Scantlebury scored his third game-winning score on his 12^th goal.

The Steel finish the regular season with a perfect 4-0-0-0 record against Cedar Rapids and now trail the RoughRiders for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference by two points.

The RoughRiders got on the board just 16 seconds into the opening period of when a two-on-one developed led by Ruben Westerling, who flipped a pass to Nick Romeo who tapped it home to give Cedar Rapids a 1-0 lead.

Shortly after, Cade Strom nearly connected with Marco Senerchia on a backdoor pass, but it was broken up by the RoughRiders.

Cedar Rapids went to the game's first power play with 11:33 left and spent the first 90 seconds of the advantage in the attacking end before Chicago got its first zone clear. The RoughRiders had one strong look with a point shot in the dwindling moments of the advantage, but Louhivaara made a glove stop.

The Steel had a chance later when Patrick Tolan dropped a pass for Luke Goukler, who worked to the cage and lifted a shot that was stopped by RoughRiders goalie Ryan Cameron. Tolan crashed the net on the rebound, but Cameron made one more save.

Late in the period after a strong stop by Louhivaara, a ten-man scrum ensued behind the net. The officials reviewed the play and issued a five-minute major and game misconduct to Luke Goukler for cross-checking, giving Cedar Rapids a five-minute power play.

Like their first power play, the RoughRiders applied good pressure but failed to connect on the lengthy advantage, keeping it a 1-0 game.

Shots favored Cedar Rapids 14-5 after the first 20 minutes.

With just under 12 minutes left in the middle period, Jackson Crowder rifled a pass through neutral ice to Ryland Rooney, springing him on a breakaway. Rooney attempted to stretch past the left pad of Cameron and tuck the puck, but the RoughRiders goalie managed to keep it out.

Later in the period, Jason Musa had a breakaway opportunity, but the puck got tangled in his skates, allowing Wyatt Herres to pickpocket the RoughRiders forward.

At 10:42 of the second, Shorter corralled a loose puck and snapped a shot through traffic that beat Cameron over the left shoulder to tie the game at 1-1.

The Steel applied a heavy forecheck with just over five minutes left, with Senerchia rifling a one-timer from just outside the dots that was kept out by a literal toe-save by Cameron capping off the good push by Chicago.

With five minutes left, a Cedar Rapids defensive zone turnover found Brady Kudrick, who labeled a rink-wide backdoor pass to Crowder for the go-ahead goal to make it 2-1 Steel.

Chicago nearly made it a two-goal lead in the final ten seconds of the second period when Timo Kazda deked to the crease but lost control of the puck.

The Steel slightly balanced the shots counter heading to the third period, with Cedar Rapids still holding a 22-17 shots lead.

The RoughRiders tied the game early in the third when Sullivan Miller released a shot from just above the circles that deflected off a Steel defender and past Louhivaara, making it a 2-2 score.

Later in the third, Cedar Rapids' Joseph Fenton got loose for a breakaway with under 14 minutes left but was stymied by a left pad save by Louhivaara.

The Steel got their only power play of the night with 6:26 left in the third period but couldn't find the tiebreaking goal.

Shortly after the Steel advantage, Henry Lechner sliced through the Steel defense and drew a penalty in the process, giving the RoughRiders a crucial advantage with 2:57 left.

Moments into the penalty, Kudrick got behind the RoughRiders power play unit for a shorthanded breakaway, and Cameron made a strong blocker save.

The Steel killed the remainder of the penalty, pushing the contest to overtime for the second straight game.

Late in the three-on-three extra frame, Chicago had a three-on-one following a Cedar Rapids turnover. Senerchia tried a backdoor feed that was broken up, resulting in a two-on-one the other way for Cedar Rapids that was silenced by Louhivaara.

With less than 40 seconds left in overtime, Kazda badgered the puck away from Connor Davis and skated back with Scantlebury on an odd-man rush. Kazda coasted to the hashmarks and slid a pass to Scantlebury, who ripped a one-timer past Cameron for the win.

The Steel will return home and host a Fox Valley Ice Arena Mini Replica Giveaway presented by Midwest Orthopaedics at RUSH for the first 500 fans against Green Bay on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 7:05 pm CT.

Tickets for all Steel home games are on sale now starting at just $10.

For more information, call 855-51-STEEL or visit ChicagoSteelHockeyTeam.com.

Chicago Steel Upcoming Schedule presented by Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush:
Saturday, February 21 vs. Green Bay Gamblers (7:05 pm CT) | Fox Valley Ice Arena Mini Replica Giveaway (first 500 fans) presented by Midwest Orthopaedics at RUSH
Friday, February 27 at Madison Capitols (7:05 pm CT)
Saturday, February 28 vs. Madison Capitols (7:05 pm CT) | 8^th Annual Wiener Dog Races presented by PetSuites | Post-Game Skate with the Steel

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