ROANOKE, VA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (20-11-4) completely dismantled the Knoxville Ice Bears (19-15-4) on Friday night, thrashing their rivals 9-2 at Berglund Center. Nick Ford had a hat trick, Joe Widmar had four points (1 G, 3 A), Carson Gallagher (1 G, 2 A) and Stephen Alvo (3 A) each had three points, Tommy Munichiello, Austen Swankler, and Jacob Kelly each had one goal and one assist each, and Matt O’Dea added a goal for Roanoke in a blowout victory.
It was another dominant first period for the Dawgs, as they scored the game’s opening goal within the first 100 seconds of action. Widmar was able to tip along the long-range shot by Alvo at 1:34 to put Roanoke in front for good. It was Gallagher’s turn next at 5:55, as the centering pass from the right-wing dot by Munichiello was blasted by Gallagher on a one-time slapshot to make it 2-0. The Dawgs added their third on an incredible individual effort from Swankler, who skated down the right wing of the neutral zone on his backhand, entered the Knoxville end, then crossed back over to his forehand to tuck the puck home at 9:35. Kelly would add the next goal when he tapped in a centering feed for a power play goal at 16:13 to make it 4-0. Ford capped off the first period with a beautiful finish on a shorthanded breakaway to the top right corner of the net, making it 5-0 for the Dawgs at the end of 20 minutes. Roanoke has combined for nine first period goals in the last two nights.
Knoxville responded well in the second period, generating 15 of the first 20 shots on net in the middle frame. Jason Brancheau would square the puck home on a rebound chance at 11:56 to finally get the Ice Bears on the board at 5-1. A late penalty by Lucas Helland of Knoxville squandered any type of chances of the Ice Bears mounting a comeback, as Munichiello snapped the puck into the net on a rebound chance for Roanoke that made it 6-1 in the final four seconds of the period on the power play. The Dawgs took that five-goal cushion to the final frame.
The onslaught continued to start the third period, as O’Dea drilled a shot in transition from the right-wing circle that made it 7-1 just 38 seconds into the frame. Ford notched his second of the game when he finished off the centering feed by Swankler at 1:43 to make it a seven-goal game. Ford completed his hat trick at 3:44 to make it a 9-1 game for the Dawgs, also earning the Roanoke captain his 50th point of the season. That forced Knoxville to finally pull goaltender Stephen Mundinger in favor of the backup goalie, Talor Joseph. Cam Tobey would grab a consolation goal for Knoxville at 9:24, as his shot from the right-wing circle rattled into the back of the net, but the Dawgs secured a seven-goal victory to move to 15-2-3 at home this year.
Austyn Roudebush stopped 24-of-26 shots faced in net for the Dawgs. Mundinger stopped 24-of-33 shots faced in net before he was pulled from the game, and Joseph stopped both of the two shots he faced in relief for the Ice Bears. Roanoke was 2-for-6 on the power play, and Knoxville went 0-for-3 on its chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs stay home on Saturday, February 8 against the Knoxville Ice Bears 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.
Photo Credit: David Ingraham