FAYETTEVILLE, NC. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (7-5-3) overcame a two-goal deficit to force overtime, but were outlasted in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Fayetteville Marksmen (12-3-2) on Friday night at Ford Center. Brendan Pepe scored twice, while Alex DiCarlo opened the scoring for Roanoke.
Each team got a power play within the first five minutes of the game that both came up empty, and it was Roanoke that got the first good look of the game. A great pass by Nick Ford to Steven Leonard set up a Leonard snipe from the right wing circle, but it bounced off the post and out. Moments later, a Roanoke turnover at its own blue line was turned into a two-man breakaway chance, and Cam Cook squared home a pass by Simon Boyko to open the scoring at 10:47. At 17:11, it was Cook that settled down a rebound and passed it to Boyko, who smashed the puck into the net to make it 2-0. The Dawgs trailed by a pair at the first intermission.
The second period saw the Dawgs find a bit of confidence, as they outshot the Marksmen 15-9 in the frame. Roanoke had a five-on-three power play killed off by Fayetteville, as the improved performance didn’t yield a goal in the middle stanza for the Dawgs. It was still a 2-0 lead for the Marksmen heading to the third period.
Roanoke came firing out of the gate in the third period. Pepe found DiCarlo at the bottom of the left wing circle for a quick goal at 1:08 to put the visitors on the board. Just 30 seconds later, Dom Marcinkevics dropped the puck off in the slot to Pepe, who blasted his shot to the top right corner of the net to tie the score. It was DiCarlo who found Pepe next at 7:21, as the Dawgs took their first lead of the game on Pepe’s finish from just inside of the right wing circle. Fayetteville didn’t go down quietly, and a Roanoke turnover was flipped into a Dalton Hunter chance that tied the game at 3-all at the 17:45 mark. The game went to overtime, where the Dawgs tallied the first six shots of the extra period in large part due to receiving their fourth power play of the game. Roanoke couldn’t convert, and when Fayetteville was awarded its own power play in the final 81 seconds of overtime, Cook was able to tap in a rebound at 3:59 to give Fayetteville the second point. It marked the Marksmen’s first win against the Dawgs in four matchups this season.
Brody Claeys made 34 saves on 38 shots for Roanoke, while Fayetteville’s Tucker Tynan stopped 34-of-37 shots faced in his SPHL debut. The Dawgs went 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Marksmen went 1-for-4.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will stay on the road tomorrow night, December 9, to take on the Fayetteville Marksmen. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 P.M. EST at Crown Coliseum, and you can watch the game on Flo or listen for free on Mixlr. Season tickets, group tickets, and single game tickets are on sale now by contacting the Rail Yard Dawgs office or visiting the Berglund Center box office.
Photo Credit: Bryar Turner