For Immediate Release:
March 3, 2017
DAWGS COMEBACK BID FALLS SHORT IN PEORIA, 6-4
Roanoke drops first ever meeting with Rivermen
PEORIA, IL – The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs scored twice in the third period but a late comeback attempt fell short as they were defeated by the Peoria Rivermen, 6-4, Friday night at Carver Arena.
Trailing 6-2 in the third, the Dawgs got one back when Cody Walsh took a slap shot from the blue line that bounced off a Peoria defender and past Strom Phaneuf. Walsh’s first professional goal cut the Roanoke deficit to 6-3.
Roanoke would later bring itself within two when an offensive zone faceoff was tied up and eventually found its way to Dmytro Babenko. Babenko settled down the bouncing puck and ripped a backhander low by Phaneuf to make it 6-4.
The Dawgs would pull Joey Ballmer for an extra attacker in the final 90 seconds but could not manage anything further and ultimately fell, 6-4. Roanoke outshot Peoria, 12-6, in the final period but was outshot, 43-33, for the game
Peoria struck for the first two goals in the first period as Cody Dion and Connor Gorman each beat Ballmer to give the Rivermen a 2-0 lead.
Roanoke put itself on the board late in the opening stanza. Phil Bronner kicked the puck free in the right wing corner to Babenko along the boards. Babenko found Zach Tatrn in the high slot for a snap shot that snuck through Phaneuf’s five hole, making it 2-1.
The Rivermen scored three unanswered goals to begin the second period, with the first two coming from Jeff Jones. Garrett Vermeersch set up the first on a 2-on-1 break and dished the second after gathering a rebound. Peoria extended its advantage to 5-1 when Michael Colantone converted after a Dawgs defensive zone giveaway.
Roanoke again got a late goal in the second period as Tatrn led a 2-on-1 break with Mike Driscoll. He feathered a pass to the back post and Driscoll chipped it over the lunging Phaneuf to cut the deficit to 5-2.
Peoria scored its sixth when Jones converted a rebound on a power play. Jones finished with a hat trick and became the fourth Roanoke opponent to tally a hat trick this season.
Tatrn and Babenko each had a goal and an assist and Ballmer stopped 37 of 43 shots in his professional debut. The Rail Yard Dawgs fell to 14-23-6 in the loss while the Rivermen improved to 24-10-9. Roanoke and Peoria will play the second of three scheduled games over the weekend on Saturday night. Puck drop at Carver Arena is scheduled for 7:05 PM CST.
2017-18 Rail Yard Dawgs season tickets are on sale now! Seats can be reserved by visiting the Rail Yard Dawgs office inside of the Berglund Center or over the phone at 540-344-3294.
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