ROANOKE, VA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (24-11-4) controlled the game once again against the Knoxville Ice Bears (19-18-5) on Thursday evening, tallying a 4-1 win at Berglund Center. Tommy Munichiello recorded a hat trick, Austyn Roudebush stopped 33-of-34 shots faced in the net, and Justin Cmunt scored once for Roanoke as the Dawgs extended their winning streak to six straight victories.
Roanoke was able to control the game from the opening puck drop, registering 11 of the game’s first 12 shots on net and outshooting the Ice Bears 18-8 overall in the first period. The Dawgs would get on the board at 10:39, as Cmunt intercepted a pass, found Stephen Alvo in the neutral zone, and then got the puck back all alone in the slot before finishing off his backhanded shot against his former team. The lone power play was in Roanoke’s favor in the opening 20 minutes and it yielded some good scoring chances, but the score remained 1-0 at the first intermission.
The second period appeared to be a continuation of the first 20 minutes, as the Dawgs quickly doubled their advantage. Carson Gallagher forced a turnover along the left-wing wall and centered the puck to the low slot for Munichiello, who flicked the puck backhanded at 1:31 to make it a 2-0 game. The Ice Bears woke up from there, however, and would cut the deficit back to a single goal. Brayden Stannard’s shot from the left-wing goalline deflected off of Roanoke and into the net at 9:10 to make it 2-1. The Ice Bears outshot the Dawgs 12-10 in the frame, and the score was still locked at 2-1 heading to the final period of regulation.
The Dawgs began to pull away with an early third period goal, as Munichiello smashed home the circle-to-circle feed from Alvo at 4:13 for a power play tally that gave Roanoke a 3-1 advantage. The physicality picked up from there, and despite only registering five shots on goal in the final frame, Roanoke maintained its composure against any Knoxville attempts for a comeback. Munichiello would cap off his hat trick at 18:06 on a snipe from his own zone, giving him his 20th goal of the campaign. Roanoke’s win over the Ice Bears gave the Dawgs their seventh consecutive head-to-head win over Knoxville, and Roanoke is now 16-1-2 in the rivalry since the start of the 2023-2024 season.
Hunter Virostek stopped 29-of-32 shots faced in his SPHL debut in net for the Ice Bears. Roanoke was 1-for-2 on the power play, and Knoxville went 0-for-3 on its chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs hit the road on Friday, February 21 against the Macon Mayhem at Macon Coliseum. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 P.M. EST in Georgia. Single game tickets for the season are on sale now online and at Berglund Center box office.
Photo Credit: David Ingraham