PELHAM, AL. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (25-15-4) battled back and forth on Friday night, but fell in overtime 5-4 to the Birmingham Bulls (29-14-3) at Pelham Civic Complex. Spencer Kennedy, Nick Ford, Dillon Radin, and Matt O’Dea scored for Roanoke.
The Dawgs jumped all over the Bulls from the start, as O’Dea found Kennedy right in front of the Birmingham net for the opening goal at 0:38. Roanoke quickly got a power play after that, and a missile by Ford put the Dawgs ahead 2-0 at just 2:25 into the game. The Dawgs continued to push the tempo until the last six minutes of the period. Birmingham scored three goals from 14:51 to 17:31 – power play goals came from Taylor Brierley then Troy MacTavish, and Zac Masson gave the Bulls the 3-2 lead. Roanoke trailed entering the first intermission.
Momentum was quickly seized back by the Dawgs, as Radin tallied a rebound goal at 2:54 to tie the score at 3-all. Roanoke followed in the next few minutes with more chances before Birmingham slowly started to tilt the needle back in its own favor. Another power play goal, this time by Scott Donahue, put the Bulls back ahead at 17:45 in the second frame. Roanoke still trailed 4-3 entering the third period.
Roanoke continued to find the penalty box in the third period, but finally had success. Dom Marcinkevics pushed the puck forward on a shorthanded chance that O’Dea cleaned up at 6:36 to tie the score. After a bumpy first period, Roanoke goalie Brody Claeys made big stop after big stop to keep the Dawgs in the game. After neither team could find the winner, the game went to overtime tied at 4-4. In overtime, Birmingham registered all six shots, thanks in large part to receiving its eighth power play of the game. Finally, at 4:01 in overtime, MacTavish tallied his second of the night to win the game for the Bulls.
Claeys saved 44-of-49 shots faced in net for Roanoke, while Birmingham’s Austin Lotz stopped 25-of-29 shots faced. Roanoke went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Bulls were 3-for-8.
Roanoke will stay on the road next Friday night, March 10 at 8:00 p.m. EST against the Huntsville Havoc at Von Braun Center. The Dawgs will be hosting a Bud Light Watch Party at The Hangout located at 7717 Williamson Road in Hollins. 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: Ashlie Brammer