John Kemp scored two goals and added two assists and the Indiana Ice produced all of its goals on the power play as the Ice defeated the host Cedar Rapids RoughRiders 4-3 tonight in a round robin second round Clark Cup playoff game to claim a berth in next weekend’s United States Hockey League Final Four and force the Riders into a must-win game tomorrow night on the road against the Waterloo Black Hawks.

If the Riders bounce back to win the finale of the East Division round robin tomorrow evening they will advance to and host the Final Four. If Waterloo wins Cedar Rapids will be eliminated and the Black Hawks will move on to host the Final Four.

Jake Skjodt scored what proved to be the game winning goal for Indiana tonight, firing a Kemp feed home from close range to snap a 3-3 tie at 16:20 of the second period.

The Ice protected the one goal lead the rest of the way, killing off two third period Cedar Rapids power plays and hanging on after the Riders pulled goaltender Richard Bachman (22 saves) in the final minute. Indiana netminder Alex Kangas stopped all 13 Rider shots in the third period and finished the night with 39 saves.

Skjodt’s goal had put the Ice back on top after the Riders erased a 3-1 deficit with back-to-back second period goals. The Riders cut the gap to 3-2 when Jacob Cepis finished off a 2-on-1 rush with the second of his two goals at 11:35 of the second. The Riders evened the score while on the power play when Robin Bergman steered in a rebound at the 14:36 mark.

The Riders’ second period outburst came in response to a run of three straight Indiana man advantage goals. Mike Phillippi started that onslaught by cancelling out a 1-0 RoughRider lead with a drive from the high slot at 9:25 of the first period. At 13:51 of the first the Ice grabbed a 2-1 lead while on a two-man advantage when Kemp buried a cross-crease pass from Garret Roe (three assists). Kemp extended the lead to a pair 6:22 of the second period by snapping the puck past Bachman from the slot.

The Riders were up a man when Cepis pounced on a loose puck on the doorstep to open the scoring at 4:52 of the first period, but from there it would the Indiana power play attack that proved lethal.

The Riders and Black Hawks both head into tomorrow night’s showdown with 0-1 records in the three-team East Division round robin. The Ice, who defeated the Black Hawks 4-3 in overtime Wednesday night in Indianapolis, advance to the Final Four on the strength of their 2-0 round robin record.

The Final Four will be played at home rink of the semi-finalist that the posted the best regular season record. As the Black Hawks- who finished first overall- and the Riders have the two best regular season records among the surviving playoff teams, the winner of tomorrow’s clash in Waterloo will have the chance to host the single game Clark Cup semi-finals and final next Friday and Saturday.