Jacob Cepis scored two goals and Richard Bachman made 29 saves as the RoughRiders defeated the host Waterloo Black Hawks 3-2 Thursday night in Waterloo.

With the win, the Riders pulled even with the Black Hawks in the race for first place in the United States Hockey League’s East Division.

Cepis’ second goal proved to be the game winner. Cedar Rapids was already on top 2-1 when Cepis raced in on a breakaway and whipped a backhander past Black Hawk goaltender Matthew DiGirolamo at 6:05 of the third period.

At 10:58 of the third, the Black Hawks’ Jan-Mikael Juutilainen cut the lead to 3-2 with his second goal of the night. The Hawks were in the midst of a two-man advantage when Juutilainen jammed home a loose puck from the doorstep.

The Riders were able to protect the one goal lead the rest of the way, even after the Black Hawks pulled DiGirolamo for an extra attacker with just over a minute remaining.

The Riders never trailed on the night. Cepis opened the scoring at 15:25 of the first period with a wrister from the slot.

Juutilainen’s blast from the left wing circle knotted the scored at one with just over 24 seconds left in the opening period, but just under a minute into the second period Scott Wietecha’s close range power play goal put the Riders back on top for good.

Bachman, who was acquired from the Chicago Steel earlier this week, was busiest in the second period as he stopped 13 shots on the way to a win in his Rider debut.