FAYETTEVILLE, NC. – The Rail Yard Dawgs battled all game, but came up short in a 3-1 loss to the Fayetteville Marksmen on Thursday at Crown Coliseum. Brant Sherwood scored the lone goal for Roanoke, while Fayetteville’s Brent Moran made 49 saves.
The first period started slow for the Dawgs, and Andrew Lane capitalized on a Roanoke turnover at 7:49 to make it 1-0 for the Marksmen. Roanoke woke up at that point, and had a few good scoring chances denied by Moran en route to outshooting Fayetteville 14-12 in the period. At the end of 20 minutes, Fayetteville led 1-0.
The second period featured penalties galore, with both teams earning three power play chances in the frame. A penalty shot was awarded to the Marksmen at the 1:54 mark, but Sammy Bernard saved Tommy Bessinger’s shot to keep it within one score. The Marksmen appeared to capitalize at the end of a 5-on-3 power play, but a Bessinger goal was disallowed for goalie interference. Roanoke had its own 5-on-3 power play at one point, but couldn’t light the lamp. Despite a season-high 22 shots in the second period, the Dawgs still trailed 1-0 entering the final period.
The Marksmen doubled their advantage at the 2:33 mark via Drake Glover to make it 2-0. A great chance for the Dawgs to score backfired at 10:54, as a counter attacking chance for Taylor Best was finished off by Bryan Moore on a two-on one breakaway. Roanoke finally got on the board with 1:31 remaining on Sherwood’s power play score, but couldn’t muster up a comeback in a fifth consecutive loss in the season series to Fayetteville.
Bernard made 33 saves on 36 shots faced for the Dawgs, and Roanoke went 1-for-4 on the power play. The Marksmen failed to capitalize on their four power play chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will return home for the first time in a month on Friday night to face the Macon Mayhem at 7:05 p.m. EST at Berglund Center. Wisler Plumbing and Air Family Four Packs, group tickets, 2022-2023 season tickets, and single game tickets for home games are on sale now, and you can listen to the games on the Haley Toyota Rail Yard Dawgs Hockey Network via Mixlr or watch it on HockeyTV.