ROANOKE, VA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs couldn’t capitalize on their scoring chances on Friday night, falling 3-1 to the Fayetteville Marksmen at Berglund Center. Brady Heppner scored the lone goal for the Dawgs.
The first period was controlled by Roanoke, who held a nine-to-five shots on goal advantage, but it was Fayetteville who scored the lone goal in the period courtesy of Jarret Kup. Roanoke’s Chris Vella did pummel Fayetteville’s Taylor Best in a fight, but the Dawgs entered the first intermission trailing 1-0.
The second period started off on a bad note for the Dawgs, as Taylor McCloy quickly doubled the Fayetteville lead just 18 seconds after play began. F.X. Girard added a third goal at the 5:44 mark, prompting a goaltender change for Roanoke as Austyn Roudebush relieved Henry Dill. Both teams whiffed on two power play chances each to run out the period with the Marksmen holding a 3-0 lead.
Roanoke committed a total of six penalties in the third period, with five resulting in Fayetteville power plays. During one of the few stretches where the Dawgs were at even-strength, Heppner scored off of a skip pass feed by Travis Armstrong to pull one back for Roanoke with 12:42 remaining. Due to the amount of penalty-killing the Dawgs were subjected to, they struggled to find any more goals as they fell 3-1 to Fayetteville.
Roudebush made eight saves on eight shots faced for the Dawgs after relieving Dill, who stopped six of the nine shots sent his way. Fayetteville’s Brent Moran saved 29 of 30 shots that he faced. Fayetteville squandered eight power play chances in the game, while Roanoke failed to capitalize on its four power play opportunities.
The Dawgs will be back home tomorrow night against the Knoxville Ice Bears on Military Night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EST at Berglund Center. Wisler Plumbing and Air Family Four Packs, group tickets, 2022-2023 season tickets, and single game tickets for home games are on sale now, and you can listen to the game on the Haley Toyota Rail Yard Dawgs Hockey Network via Mixlr or watch it on HockeyTV.
Photo Credit: Mark Sawyer