FAYETTEVILLE, NC. – The Rail Yard Dawgs couldn’t prevail late on Saturday night, losing 4-3 to Fayetteville in a shootout in the regular season finale at Crown Coliseum. Travis Armstrong, Nick DeVito, and Mac Jansen scored for Roanoke.
The Dawgs came out strong in the first period, and finally got on the scoreboard at 17:28 when Armstrong snapped a shot from the wall that lit the lamp. Roanoke had three power play chances in the period, but the game remained 1-0 entering the first intermission.
The second period started out strongly again for the Dawgs, as plenty of chances to grab a second goal failed to find the net. Finally, DeVito was fed the puck by Brady Heppner, and fired it into the net at 9:54 to double the advantage. Fayetteville answered right back on a Jarrett Kup goal at 10:46, and tied the score at 2-2 on a power play goal by Drake Glover at 13:22. Jansen reinstated the lead for the Dawgs on a left-wing blast at 15:34, and Roanoke took that lead into the third period.
Both teams had plenty of chances throughout the third period, and Roanoke held onto its least for most of the frame. With just 90 seconds left and an empty net behind them, Fayetteville’s Tommy Bessinger tied the score to force overtime. Roanoke outshot Fayetteville 5-1 in overtime, and the game moved to a shootout. Only Bessinger was able to score during the shootout, and the Marksmen prevailed for a post-regulation win for the second consecutive night.
Sammy Bernard saved 31-of-35 shots for Roanoke, while Fayetteville’s Jason Pawloski stopped 29-of-32 in net. The Marksmen went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Dawgs went 0-for-3 on their man advantages.
The Rail Yard Dawgs are on the road on Wednesday night in their first round matchup against the Knoxville Ice Bears for Game One of the 2022 President’s Cup Playoffs. Single game tickets for Game Two on Saturday, April 16 against the Ice Bears are on sale now both online and at Berglund Center box office, and you can listen to the games on the Haley Toyota Rail Yard Dawgs Hockey Network via Mixlr or watch it on HockeyTV.