ROANOKE, VA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (15-9-2) completely dismantled the Macon Mayhem (11-17-2) on Thursday night, rolling on their way to an 11-1 beatdown at Berglund Center. Andrew Harley (2 G, 2 A), Matt O’Dea (2 G, 2 A), and Nick Ford (4 A) each had four points. Mac Jansen (2 G, 1 A), Stephen Alvo (1 G, 2 A), and Bryce Martin (1 G, 2 A) each had three points, and additional goals were added by Carson Gallagher, Gustav Müller, and Jacob Kelly in the historic win. Austyn Roudebush also made 29 saves on 30 shots faced in net during his 94th career SPHL victory. The 10-goal margin of victory marked a new franchise record for the Dawgs. Roanoke had 13 of its 16 skaters notch at least one point.
Roanoke was able to build an early lead in the opening frame, scoring twice in the first 20 minutes. After an early power play chance wasn’t capitalized on by the Dawgs, an offensive zone faceoff won by Ford was bumped back by Jansen to Martin. Martin snapped a wrister from the right-wing wall, and a useful goalie screen by rookie Gustav Müller helped the puck into the back of the net at 9:17 to open the scoring. The Dawgs came up empty on another power play chance, but would find the game’s second goal just 40 seconds after Macon got back to full strength. A board battle sent the puck to the right-wing circle to Gallagher, and his centering feed found Harley in the low slot. Harley reached out one-handed to redirect the puck to the top left corner of the Macon net for a gorgeous first professional goal for the Roanoke rookie, making it 2-0 at the 12:59 mark. That score line would hold to the end of the first frame.
The Mayhem started off the second period in a pretty solid fashion, creating some scoring chances and killing off a Roanoke power play for the third time near the middle of the frame. A 2-on-2 rush for the Mayhem would enable Jacob Schnapp to fire Macon’s first goal in from the high slot at 8:51 to make it a 2-1 game. The momentum was short-lived however, as Roanoke notched six unanswered goals in the final 10:48 of the period. It started with a redirect by O’Dea just 21 seconds after Macon’s goal thanks to an extra pass by Martin to the low slot. At 11:24, Alvo zipped a pass from behind his own net to the Macon blue line and sprung Jansen for a breakaway. Jansen’s tidy backhanded finish made it 4-1, and the fifth goal came just 42 seconds later at 12:06. The Mayhem did pull goaltender Bailey Brkin for Dyson Skinner, but it proved to be no help to the visitors. Müller won a board battle behind the Macon net, and Ford skated the puck all the way out to the left-wing side and then shot the puck from the center point. Müller tipped in the Ford shot to make it 5-1. At 13:48, O’Dea second goal of the period came after he redirected a blue-line rip by Alvo to make it 6-1. Roanoke’s Billy Roche would drop the gloves with Macon’s Dan Winslow in his first professional fight at 15:02, and Roche hammered his right fist half a dozen times or so into the Macon forward. A perfect outlet pass by Aidan Girduckis at the 18:48 mark allowed Harley into the Macon zone towards the left-wing circle, and he unleashed a wristshot beyond Skinner to make it 7-1. With just 5.9 seconds left in the period, a circle-to-circle pass by Harley to Kelly enabled Kelly to find the top left corner of the net with his shot at the right-wing dot, and it was 8-1 in favor of the Dawgs heading to the second intermission.
The game slowed down early in the third period until Müller made contact with Skinner, and Macon’s Chris Hunt jumped the Roanoke forward at 9:26. Hunt received a game misconduct, and the Mayhem had both a five-minute major penalty kill followed by a two-minute minor penalty kill, spending seven minutes shorthanded from the Hunt penalties alone. Alvo made it a 9-1 game at 11:41 on another long-range laser from the Macon blue line, and Gallagher made it a 10-1 game just 55 seconds later at 12:36. Another late Macon penalty gave the Dawgs one final power play chance, and Jansen tapped home a rebound at 17:57 to make it 11-1 for Roanoke. Mac Jansen became the first Dawg to reach 100 career goals for the franchise, while Nick Ford became only the third Dawg to ever reach 50 career goals-100 career assists-150 career points in team history (Jansen, CJ Stubbs). The 11-goal output was the second-highest mark in team history, only trailing Roanoke’s 12-3 win over Knoxville back on March 1, 2024.
Brkin stopped 11-of-15 shots faced in net, while Skinner kept out 15-of-22 chances in relief for the Mayhem. Macon did not receive a power play, while Roanoke went 3-for-9 on its chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs stay home on Friday, January 17 against the Birmingham Bulls 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