The Capitols are set to close October and open November with a home-and-home against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. Friday's game will be hosted by Madison before traveling to Iowa on Saturday.
WEEKEND RECAP
Madison returned home for the first time in three weeks on Friday to kick off a home-and-home with Dubuque. In front of a sold out crowd, the game went back and forth with each team grabbing the lead at some point in the first two periods. Sam Kappell snagged the Capitols the lead once again in the third period. This lead was one that Madison would not give back as the team went onto win 6-3. Game two in Dubuque had the Caps trailing by as many as four goals. Madison was able to trim the lead to one heading into the second intermission, but the Saints pulled away to force the series split.
ROUGHRIDER ROUNDUP
This weekend, the Caps are set to face off against Cedar Rapids for the first time this season. Although they sit in fourth place in the East, the Riders enter the weekend with a 7-3-0-1 record. A big reason for their early success this season has been their offense. Cedar Rapids averages 4.09 goals per game, which ranks second in the USHL. Last season, a year where the Riders finished with a sub-500 record, they ranked 15th in goals per game at 2.87. In net, Cedar Rapids is led by Ryan Cameron, who was named the 2024-25 USA Hockey's Dave Peterson Goaltender of the Year recipient. Cameron, in his first full season in the league, has played in nine of the Riders eleven games this season with a sub-three goals against average, 2.88.
CARLSON REWRITES THE RECORD BOOK
Long time Head Coach of the RoughRiders Mark Carlson set the USHL record for all-time, regular-season wins by a coach with 779 victories in his 1,500th game behind the bench. The record-breaking victory pushed Carlson ahead of P.K. O'Handley who coached for North Iowa and Waterloo prior to stepping down in 2021. Carlson has been the coach for the entirety of the existence of the RoughRiders organization, which started in the fall of 1999. Carlson has led his squad to a Clark Cup championship in 2005 to go along with three Anderson Cup championships.
TANG SKATING FOR THE STARS AND STRIPES
The Capitols will be without forward Michael Tang for the next handful of games as Tang goes to skate for Team USA at the 2025 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Truro, Nova Scotia. This will be the second time since being signed to a tender agreement by Madison that he will represent the United States in an international tournament. He played in the U17 Four Nations Tournament this summer where the Stars and Stripes finished second. Tang and Team USA open play on Monday, November 3rd against Finland. The forward has seven points in eleven games for the Capitols.
RETURNING HOME TO TRICK OR TREAT
Sullivan Miller of West Allis and Cooper Simon of Menomonee Falls represent the state of Wisconsin on the RoughRider roster this season. Miller grew up playing for the Milwaukee Jr. Admirals AAA program before playing last season with the Janesville Jets in the NAHL. Simon played with Brookfield HS up until this season leading the Stars to back-to-back state tournament births. The WIAA State Tournament is played at Bob Suter's LEGACY20 Arena each season.
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