Cedar Rapids RoughRiders defenseman Scott Mathis has committed to the Air Force Academy, the RoughRiders announced today.
“This is obviously a tremendous opportunity for Scott” said RoughRiders Coach and General Manager Mark Carlson. “He’s worked very hard to improve himself as a player since he arrived here and has been a key player for us this season and also filled an important leadership role.”
Mathis, 19, has scored five goals and totaled 11 points in 25 games this season while posting a plus/minus rating of +1. The Crystal Lake, Illinois, native also serves as a Rider assistant captain. Last season Mathis scored twice and added five assists in 46 games.
Mathis was selected by the Riders in the nineteenth round of the May, 2006, United States Hockey League Entry Draft with the one hundred eightieth overall pick.
Air Force (9-5-4 overall, 7-4-3 conference) currently leads Atlantic Hockey after last season qualifying for the NCAA tournament for the first time.
Mathis joins David Boehm (Massachusetts), Matt Donovan (Denver), Brady Hjelle (Minnesota-Duluth), Doug Jones (Dartmouth), Vince Mihalek (Cornell), Nick Oddo (Nebraska-Omaha), Paul Phillips (Denver), Ian Slater (Western Michigan), Matt Tomassoni (Miami) and Chris Wideman (Miami) as the eleventh member of the 2007-08 RoughRiders to make a college commitment.
The RoughRiders (17-7-1, 35 points) are currently in second place in the United States Hockey League’s East Division. The Riders, who suffered a 4-1 loss to the Black Hawks in Waterloo Monday night, will battle the Hawks again tomorrow night at 7:05 at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. One night later the Riders will welcome the Green Bay Gamblers to the ice arena for another 7:05 tilt.
Tickets for all remaining RoughRiders regular season home games- including this weekend’s games- are now on sale. Tickets are available for purchase in person at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena ticket office, over the phone at (319) 261-4625 or on line at www.roughridershockey.com. The ticket office is open from noon to 5:00PM on weekdays and from noon through the end of the second period on game days. Ticket prices range from $7 to $17 in advance and from $8 to $18 on game days.