MACON, GA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (23-11-7) couldn’t settle into the game on Monday night, falling to the Macon Mayhem (11-25-5) in a 5-2 loss at the Macon Coliseum. Tommy Munichiello and Owen McDade scored for the Dawgs.
The Mayhem seemed opportunistic from the very beginning of the game, tallying the first goal against the run of play after the Dawgs had outshot Macon 7-2 in the first seven minutes. Justin Smunt found Jake Goldowski in front of the Dawgs’ net from the right wing corner, and Goldowski potted the puck at 7:03. Munichiello quickly answered for the Dawgs, as he tied the game at 1-1 at the 10:03 mark from a Tyson Kirkby centering feed following a Macon turnover. The Mayhem didn’t wait long to reinstate the lead at 11:11, as Billy Jerry easily made his way down the right wing wall before tucking the go-ahead goal. The Dawgs trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes.
The second period began with a penalty killed by Roanoke, but Macon still grabbed the next score. Goldowski found Joey Berkopec crashing the Roanoke net, and Berkopec’s goal made it 3-1 for the Mayhem at 2:24. The Dawgs pressed relentlessly in the period, earning three minor power plays and outshooting the Mayhem 19-6 in the middle frame. Roanoke would even get a five-minute major power play late in the period at 16:39 when Macon’s Brad Jenion popped Roanoke’s Brenden Stanko and was called for a ‘checking from behind’ game misconduct. It was still a 3-1 game in favor of the Mayhem heading to the final frame.
The Mayhem would keep the pressure on Roanoke in the early stages of the third period. Once the major penalty had been killed off, the Macon forecheck continued to cause some mistakes by Roanoke in its own zone, and the Dawgs failed to take advantage of a few great scoring opportunities of their own. Finally, another goal by Jerry as he backhanded a shot from the left wing made it a 4-1 game at 11:30. Roanoke’s fifth power play of the night would see McDade redirect a centering pass from Munichiello to make it a 4-2 game at 15:51, and the Dawgs would empty their net in the closing minutes. But it was Macon that received an awarded goal at 18:24 after Alex Laplante was hooked on a breakaway chance, clinching a 5-2 result for the Mayhem. It marked the second win by Macon over Roanoke in the past three meetings, after the Dawgs had won 14 consecutive meetings from December 2021 to January 2024.
Austyn Roudebush stopped 24-of-28 shots for Roanoke, while former Dawg Brody Claeys saved 42-of-44 shots faced for Macon. Roanoke went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Macon went 0-for-2 on its chance.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will stay on the road on Friday night, February 23, to take on the Huntsville Havoc. Puck drop is slated for 8:00 P.M. EST at the Von Braun Center, and you can watch the game on Flo or listen for free on Mixlr. Ticket packages, 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: Michele Hancock