FAYETTEVILLE, NC. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (30-16-5) couldn’t get a bounce on Sunday afternoon, dropping a 4-1 result to the Fayetteville Marksmen (27-18-6) at Crown Coliseum. Billy Roche had the lone goal with assists by Mac Jansen and Jacob Kelly, while Tyler Roy stopped 23-of-27 shots faced in net for Roanoke.
It was a much better start from Roanoke on Sunday than the previous two games, but a weird bounce still found the Dawgs trailing early. A loose puck rolling into the right side of the Roanoke zone was snapped on net by Fayetteville’s Ryan Nolan, going bar-down for an unassisted goal at 3:19. Roanoke’s Bryce Martin and Fayetteville’s Khristian Acosta would drop the gloves at 6:01 after a late hit by Acosta on Roanoke’s Jake Stevens well after a whistle. Roanoke’s Nick Ford and Fayetteville’s Kyler Head both ended up with 10-minute misconducts at 12:09 for continuing altercation after a net-front scrum following a whistle in the Fayetteville zone. The Dawgs had an 11-9 shots on goal advantage, both teams failed to score on power play chances, and both sides saw their goaltenders make miraculous saves as the score remained 1-0 at the first intermission.
The second period featured 20 minutes of tough puck luck for the Dawgs. Roanoke outshot Fayetteville 17-12 in the frame, but conceded three goals. The Marksmen made it 2-0 when a blocked shot during Roanoke’s 4-on-2 rush sprung a 3-on-1 rush for Fayetteville, and Nolan found the net from the left-wing circle at 7:26. At 12:16, a puck that squeezed out of a board battle in the Roanoke zone found Fayetteville’s Cayden Cahill. His shot from the slot tipped and changed directions two different times, the latter from his teammate Kyler Head, and the puck trickled in to make it a 3-0 game. At 17:08, a late pass by the Dawgs turned into an easy breakaway finish for Fayetteville’s Trent Grimshaw to make it a 4-0 game heading to the final 20 minutes.
Roanoke continued to press the Fayetteville zone to try to get on the scoreboard, and would find its breakthrough at 8:27 when Roche’s high-slot snipe rocked off the back bar of the Marksmen net to make it 4-1. The Dawgs got a power play chance just 40 seconds later, and had some strong chances to bring the deficit within two, but couldn’t manage to light the lamp again. A goalie interference on Fayetteville’s Mason Emoff would erase his potential goal at 16:47, creating a massive scrum after Emoff trucked into Roy. Martin and Acosta would both receive 10-minute misconducts for continuing altercation. Roanoke’s C.J. Valerian would receive a five-minute major and a game misconduct for elbowing at 17:44, and the Dawgs couldn’t muster a comeback. Roanoke’s current three-game losing streak is the longest of the 2024-2025 season up to this point.
Ryan Kenny stopped 32-of-33 shots faced in net for the Marksmen. Roanoke went 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Marksmen were 0-for-5 on their power play chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs return home on Friday, March 28 against the Macon Mayhem at Berglund Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 P.M. EST in the Star City. Single game tickets for the season are on sale now online and at Berglund Center box office, and playoff packages for the 2025 President’s Cup Playoffs are on sale now through the Rail Yard Dawgs’ front office.
Photo Credit: Michele Hancock