HUNTSVILLE, AL. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (26-16-4) started slow and couldn’t recover in a 3-1 loss to the Huntsville Havoc (29-15-2) at Von Braun Center on Saturday. Nick Ford scored Roanoke’s lone goal, assisted by Stephen Alvo and CJ Stubbs.
Roanoke struggled in the early going, tying a season low with just four shots on goal in the entire first period. A Kasey Kulczycki laser from the center point at 7:46 put the Havoc on the board, and Huntsville held a 1-0 lead at the first intermission.
The first half of the second period saw the trend continue for Roanoke. Huntsville’s Tyler Piacentini elected to shoot on a 2-on-1 odd man rush, and scored to make it 2-0 at 8:42. A power play for the Dawgs ended up setting up Ford at the right wing circle, and he blasted his 13th goal of the season into the Huntsville cage. The Dawgs still trailed 2-1 heading into the final period.
Huntsville got the dagger just 1:18 into the period, as Jamie Bucell had left to go to his bench for a new stick after his original twig broke. Bucell re-joined the fray in the Roanoke zone and sniped a one-timer into the Roanoke net on his first touch with his new equipment. The Dawgs outshot Huntsville 16-5 in the third period and hit the post twice, but couldn’t work their way back from the two-goal deficit. With Huntsville’s win, the Havoc took the season series against the Dawgs with three wins in the five matchups between the two teams.
Austyn Roudebush saved 25-of-28 shots faced in net for Roanoke, while Huntsville’s Max Milosek stopped 30-of-31 shots faced. Roanoke went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Havoc were 0-for-1.
Roanoke will stay on the road Friday night, March 17 at 7:35 p.m. EST against the Knoxville Ice Bears at Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Season tickets and single-game tickets are available by calling the Rail Yard Dawgs office, visiting the ‘Tickets’ page on our website, or by visiting the Berglund Center box office.
Photo Credit: Brian Collett // BC Captures