WATERLOO - It's a series that has been in the making for nine years.

From the day the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders franchise moved from Mason City to Cedar Rapids, an instant rivalry was born with its nearest competitor - the Waterloo Black Hawks.

But in the nine seasons that have followed, while the rivalry has been fierce in the United States Hockey League's East Division, the two franchises have never met in a Clark Cup playoff series.

That changes Friday when the RoughRiders invade the Black Hawks' Young Arena for a first-round best-of-five series.

"The basis was set for this to be exciting in the regular season, and the rivalry amplifies it even more," Black Hawks' captain Brett Olson said.

Officially, Waterloo and Cedar Rapids have previously met in the postseason.

Last year, in the USHL's attempt to spice up the playoffs, it held a round-robin semifinal round to determine a Frozen Four.

The Black Hawks beat the RoughRiders, 6-0, to advance and end Cedar Rapids' season.

"It is an intriguing matchup … it really is," Black Hawks head coach P.K. O'Handley said. "The rivalry is great, but the challenge for our guys is to enjoy that stuff while at the same time keeping it in prospective that two good hockey are going to be going at it."

If the regular season was an indicator on how the series will play out, it will be more than competitive.

In eight games, both teams won four times. However, three of Waterloo's four wins were in overtime, including the last two on Feb. 29 and April 5.

If the games are tight like O'Handley expects, the Black Hawks, based on the regular season, would have a decided advantage.

Waterloo was 19-4-5 in one-goal games, while the RoughRiders were just 5-10-5.

"It has been competitive and it is going to be competitive," O'Handley said.

"You've got two teams who are going to get after it and two teams who want to win bad," added Black Hawks rookie forward Nick Larson.

On paper and on the ice, the RoughRiders and Black Hawks are similar.

Only West Division and Anderson Cup champion Omaha (136) allowed fewer goals than either Cedar Rapids (153) and Waterloo (149). Both teams also rank amongst the league's least penalized teams - Cedar Rapids (first) and Waterloo (fifth).

"We're similar in style," O'Handley said. "I think Mark (Carlson, Cedar Rapids head coach) would probably say the same thing.

"Where they probably have an advantage is they are a little more gifted in pure goal scoring. We might take that advantage away with a little more size up front."

Two factors weigh heavily in how the series will play out - goaltending and road victories. The teams have the best goalie tandems in the league with Brady Hjelle and Kent Patterson for Cedar Rapids and Matt DiGirolamo and Joe Howe for Waterloo, respectively.

DiGirolamo, Howe and Hjelle are among the top five goalies in the USHL in goals against average.

"I think ultimately the series is going to be decided in goal," O'Handley said. "They've got two quality goalies. We've got two quality goalies.

"Both of their goalies have the ability to win games on their own. I think as a coach when you are going against great goalies like Hjelle and Patterson, you have to make your players understand at times it will be frustrating."

The Black Hawks are also thankful they won home ice with an incredible stretch run where they won 16 of their final 18 games to overtake Cedar Rapids for second in the East behind the Indiana Ice.

Waterloo could set the tone for the series with pair of home victories. The Black Hawks have been outscored 15-6 in their last three visits to the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

"When you get into the playoffs, you have to win on the road," O'Handley said. "I'm sure Mark is telling his team the same thing.

"Obviously, you would like to defend home ice, but we also have to understand that we have to try to win a game in their building and approach it that way."

The Black Hawks feel ready.

"We've made great gains to become prepared for the playoffs," Olson said. "The last two months we've really been making sure we we were ready to make a playoff push. That was our main focus … to step up our game.

"The last couple of games with these guys … they've been pretty darn good battles. They've come right down to the wire. I think that is what people are expecting to see in this series. That is definitely what we're expecting."

Contact Jim Nelson at (319) 291-1521 or jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com

SERIES AT A GLANCE

Schedule

(Best of five)

Friday - Cedar Rapids at Waterloo, 7 p.m.

Saturday - Cedar Rapids at Waterloo, 7 p.m.

Wednesday - Waterloo at Cedar Rapids

April 18 - Waterloo at Cedar Rapids, if neccessary

April 19 - Cedar Rapids at Waterloo, if neccessary

Regular-season results

Nov. 2 - Waterloo 3, Cedar Rapids 2 SO, at CR

Nov. 22 - Cedar Rapids 2, Waterloo 1 SO, at Wat

Nov 23 - Cedar Rapids 4, Waterloo 1, at CR

Dec. 8 - Cedar Rapids 6, Waterloo 2, at CR

Dec. 31 - Waerloo 4, Cedar Rapids 1, at Wat

Jan. 4 - Cedar Rapids 5, Waterloo 3, at CR

Feb. 29 - Waterloo 3, Cedar Rapids 2 SO, at Wat

April 5 - Waterloo 3, Cedar Rapids 2 OT, at Wat

Cedar Rapids At A Glance

Regular season record: 33-22-5 (Home: 19-8-3. Road: 14-14-2)

All-time playoff record: 25-23

Clark Cup championships: 1 (2005)

Head coach: Mark Carlson (9th season, 288-199-48)

Scoring leaders:

Goals - Casey wellman (22). Assists - Doug Jones (40). Points - Jones (57) Power-play goals - Jones (11). Leading scorer, defensemen - Matt Donovan (30 points)

Goalie stats:

Brady Hjelle - 41 games, 22-15-4, 2.50 GAA, .921 save percentage.

Kent Patterson - 20 games, 10-6-1, 2.49 GAA, .912 save percentage.

Waterloo At A Glance

Regular season record: 38-17-5 (Home: 22-4-4. Road: 16-13-1)

All-time playoff record: 26-34

Clark Cup Championships: 1 (2004)

Head coach: P.K. O'Handley (337-320-51)

Scoring leaders:

Goals - Billy Maday (24). Assists - Blake Kessel (38). Points - Billy Maday (59). Power-play goals - Kessel (13). Leading scorer, defensemen - Kessel (57 points).

Goalie stats:

Matt DiGirolamo - 42 games, 25-12-4, 2.41 GAA, .900 save percentage.

Joe Howe - 22 games, 13-5-1, 2.12 GAA, .915 save percentage