DUBUQUE, Iowa — November 13, 2026 — The Dubuque Fighting Saints spend this weekend with the Des Moines Buccaneers, opening a Dupaco Cowbell Cup home-and-home series on the road Friday night and finishing it at home Saturday night.
The Saints (8-7-1-0, 17 points) sit second in the USHL’s Eastern Conference and seventh overall. Des Moines (9-6-0-1, 19 points) is just ahead of them in the standings, so both games carry weight in the early conference race and in the Cowbell Cup, the season-long competition among Iowa’s four USHL teams.
Friday’s game starts at 7:05 p.m. at the MidAmerican Energy Company RecPlex in West Des Moines. Saturday’s rematch is at 7:05 p.m. at ImOn Arena in Dubuque, and it is Food Drive Night, sponsored by Progressive Processing, LLC. Fans are asked to bring non-perishable food donations to the game.
Dubuque comes in off a split with Muskegon last weekend, dropping the opener 3-2 on Friday, November 6, and answering with a 7-2 win on Saturday, November 7. The Saints have been at their best late in games: over their last three, they have outscored opponents 7-1 in the second period and 13-3 over the final 40 minutes.
Des Moines brings one of the league’s most dangerous scorers in Riley Zupfer, who is second in the USHL with 22 points, and Joey Argentina, who has 18. In goal, Jon Kavcic carries a .920 save percentage behind a defense that allows just 2.8 goals per game, among the best in the league.
Both games can be watched on FloHockey and heard on Eagle 102.3.
After the weekend, the Saints head back on the road, visiting the Tri-City Storm on Thursday, November 19.
You must be logged in to post a comment.