Eagles by day, 'Riders' by night
Darrin Cline
Issue date: 11/12/09 Section: Sports
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Eric Robinson, Jayson Megna and Bryce Aneloski are members of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders hockey team as well as being students at Kirkwood's main campus.
"Our coaches encourage us to take classes and do something more than just hockey," said Megna.
Each player took a different route to the Cedar Valley. Aneloski, a defender from Pekin, Ill., came to the RoughRiders in the United States Hockey League draft. Megna, a forward from Chicago, and Robinson, a forward hailing from Foxboro, Mass., made the team following the post-draft tryouts. Despite their different backgrounds, each of them is working toward the same goal, to play major college hockey and move on to the next level.
The trio is part of the 25-man roster that ranges in age from 16 to 20. Following the draft and tryouts, the roster was trimmed from 90 to the select 25 players. There is no shortage of talent on the team, as it is 7-5 in USHL play.
"This is a great organization and the league is a good place to develop our skills for the next level," said Aneloski.
Scouts from college and pro teams make trips to RoughRider games in search of future stars.
The RoughRiders talent has not gone unrecognized.
The Stable is routinely near capacity with roughly 2,000 fans at each home game. Kirkwood's hockey representatives have contributed to this success. Aneloski leads the team in scoring and is tied for fourth in the league in total points. Also Robinson "has the hardest shot on the team," according to his teammates.
"The fans are great and I believe that it's the top junior league in the country," said Robinson.
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