PEORIA, IL. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (0-2-1) got off to a strong start, but special teams came back to haunt Roanoke in a 4-1 loss to the Peoria Rivermen (1-0-1) on Friday night at Carver Arena. Tommy Munichiello scored Roanoke’s lone goal, assisted by Jimmy O’Kane and Bryce Martin.
The Dawgs were humming out of the gate, tallying seven of the game’s first eight combined shots on goal and owning a 10-2 advantage in that department midway through the frame. Munichiello held up an entry pass from Martin and kicked it down the right wing wall to O’Kane, and O’Kane was able to split the puck back into the slot for Munichiello to rattle into the net at 5:54. After two early power plays had come up empty for the Dawgs, Peoria’s first chance immediately led to the tying goal. A centering feed from the left goal line found a wide-open Tristan Trudel to make it 1-1 at 12:37. Trudel and Roanoke’s Tobias Odjick dropped the gloves a few minutes later as the intensity began to rise, then the Rivermen took the lead. A two-on-one rush for Peoria left Carlos Fornaris to deke into a backhanded shot that gave them a 2-1 advantage with 43 seconds left in the period. A scrum after the final whistle in the first period led to 50 penalty minutes between four players, and also handed Roanoke captain Nick Ford an ejection after he was whistled for a third man-in game misconduct. The Dawgs would start the second period without Ford, on the penalty kill, and trailing by one.
The second period was a toughly-contested battle, as both teams had to resort to strong penalty kills. Roanoke outshot Peoria 26-13 in the first 40 minutes, but couldn’t capitalize on the multitude of rebound chances or power plays that came to their disposal. The fifth power play of the night for the Dawgs would carry over into the final period, with the score still remaining at 2-1 in favor of the hosts.
Peoria would kill off the remainder of Roanoke’s power play to start the third frame, then the Rivermen found breathing room when their own power play was called upon for the fourth time in the game. Another centering feed from the goal line found Mike Gelatt for a redirect in the low slot to make it 3-1 for Peoria at 2:55. Four more players received 10-minute misconduct penalties at 10:03 when a Carlos Fornaris hit on Roanoke’s Bryce Martin, who did not have his helmet on, started a massive scrum. Martin and Roanoke’s Matt O’Dea were essentially done for the night, as were Fornaris and Griffen Fox for Peoria. The Dawgs would empty the net late in the game, but Peoria’s Zack Nazzarett’s neutral zone shot found the back of the net to seal a 4-1 win for the Rivermen in their home opener. Peoria has now won 14 games in a row at home during the regular season, last falling at Carver Arena to Huntsville back on January 14 of last season.
Austyn Roudebush saved 15-of-18 shots faced in net for Roanoke, and Colby Muise turned away 30-of-31 shots in the crease for Peoria. Peoria went 2-for-4 on the power play, while Roanoke went 0-for-6 its chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will stay on the road on Saturday, October 26 against the Peoria Rivermen at Carver Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:15 P.M. EST in Illinois. Single game tickets for the season are on sale now online and at Berglund Center box office.
Photo Credit: Michele Hancock