OMAHA, Neb. - The Cedar Rapids RoughRiders missed a chance to help themselves in the fight for the USHL conference title Friday night.

The RoughRiders lost to Omaha, 6-3, before 3,661 fans at Ralston Arena to remain three points behind idle Youngstown in the Eastern Conference standings with only a handful of games left to play.

Youngstown leads the Eastern Conference with a 37-14-5 record for 79 points with four games left in their regular season. Cedar Rapids stands in second place at 38-19-0 for 76 points with three games left.

Dubuque has a 34-18-5 record for 73 points and Muskegon is 34-19-4 for 72 points. Dubuque and Muskegon both have three games remaining.

The RoughRiders could still finish in first place, although time is running out. And the RoughRiders could still finish third or fourth, which means they would not have the home-ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs if that happens.

Cedar Rapids visits Tri-City Saturday night.

Adam Gaudette tied the game, 2-2, for the RoughRiders midway through the second period with a power-play goal, but Omaha scored twice before the period was over and took a 4-2 lead into the third stanza.

Omaha took a 5-2 lead in the third period. Ross Colton pulled the RoughRiders within 5-3 at the 6:48 mark, but Omaha scored again less than five minutes later for a 6-3 advantage.

Ben Blacker had a tough night in goal for Cedar Rapids and allowed all six tallies by Omaha.

RoughRiders    1  1  1 - 3
Omaha              2  2  2 - 6

CR - Dylan McLaughlin (Andrew Gaus, Joe Wegwerth)
OM - Louie Rowe (Josh French)
OM - Will Borgen (Jimmy Schuldt, Shane Gersich)
CR - Adam Gaudette (power play) (Erik Foley, Dylan McLaughlin)
OM - Josh French (power play) (Louie Rowe, Jimmy Schuldt)
OM - Jimmy Schuldt (Nick Rivera)
OM - Jake Henderson (Nick Rivera, Josh French)
CR - Ross Colton (Cal Burke, Adam Gaudette)
OM - Matthew Maier (Niklas Folin)