DAWGS HELD IN CHECK AT MACON IN 4-1 LOSS TO MAYHEM

MACON, GA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (18-11-4) ran out of gas down the stretch against the Macon Mayhem (15-20-3) in a 4-1 loss on Sunday afternoon at the Macon Coliseum. Tommy Munichiello scored Roanoke’s lone goal, tipping in a shot by Carson Gallagher as Gallagher extended his point streak to eight games. Macon goaltender Josh Boyko made 43 saves and added a goal after the Dawgs had emptied their net late in the game.

The first period was a back-and-forth affair, with the Mayhem outshooting the Dawgs 15-13 in the first 20 minutes. The Dawgs would capitalize first at 9:18, as Munichiello redirected the shot by Carson Gallagher to open the scoring for the visitors. A rebound chance would come out to the left-wing side for Macon’s Jake Raleigh at 15:12, and his second bounce opportunity found the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1. That score would hold into the intermission.

It was a strange start to the second period, as Macon’s Andrey Simonchyk jumped Roanoke captain Nick Ford following some unpenalized contact between Ford and Macon’s Tao Ishizuka. Simonchyk was given a game misconduct, but the Dawgs couldn’t capitalize on their power play chance. Raleigh would tee up another rebound goal off of his own shot at 6:59 after speeding his way down the left-wing side of the Roanoke zone, and Macon took a 2-1 lead. Roanoke would register 20 shots on goal in the period, but trailed by one after 40 minutes.

Roanoke continued to mount pressure in the third period, but just couldn’t create chances on second and third bounces to try and sneak a shot past Boyko. Raleigh would complete his hat trick at 14:12 when Yaroslav Yevdokimov made a perfect spinning pass right to the top of the Roanoke crease, as Macon extended its lead to 3-1. After Roanoke emptied its net late in the contest, Boyko looped the puck the length of the ice from his own crease to score at the 18:47 mark of the third period for a rare goalie goal.

Tyler Roy stopped 26-of-29 shots faced in net for the Dawgs. Roanoke was 0-for-4 on the power play, and Macon went 0-for-1 on its chances.

The Rail Yard Dawgs return home on Thursday, February 6 against the Huntsville Havoc at Berglund Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 P.M. EST in the Star City. Single game tickets for the season are on sale now online and at Berglund Center box office.

Photo Credit: David Ingraham