FAYETTEVILLE, NC. – The Rail Yard Dawgs battled all night, but couldn’t find the tying goal in the final moments of a 5-4 loss to the Fayetteville Marksmen on Saturday night at Crown Coliseum. Matt O’Dea scored twice for Roanoke, while Mac Jansen and Jeff Jones added goals.
The Dawgs and Marksmen exchanged blows in the first period, as the two teams combined for 32 shots on goal. Tanner Froese opened the scoring for Fayetteville at the 5:27 mark, and an unassisted rip by Jansen tied the score at 1-1. Roanoke goalie Henry Dill made a few unbelievable stops to keep the game tied, and the period ended deadlocked at one goal each.
The second period was wild, with six combined scores and 45 combined penalty minutes. O’Dea scored an unbelievable goal on an end-to-end run to give Roanoke the lead at the 1:41 mark in the frame. Fayetteville scored the next three goals over the next four minutes and 46 seconds to take a 4-2 lead over Roanoke, before O’Dea tallied a shorthanded goal at the 8:34 mark to bring Roanoke within one goal. A spearing game misconduct against Tommy Bessinger gave Roanoke a five-minute power play, but Don Olivieri scored shorthanded to give Fayetteville a 5-3 lead entering the second intermission.
The third period saw both teams run out of gas a bit. The Dawgs did pull a goal back with an extra attacker and an empty net, as Jones tipped a shot from the point by Jansen into the Fayetteville net with 3:03 remaining. The Dawgs kept the net empty, and were even on the power play for the final 51 seconds, but couldn’t light the lamp one more time to knot the score in the 5-3 defeat.
Roudebush saved 7-of-8 shots that he faced in relief, while Dill saved 18-of-22 shots for Roanoke. Fayetteville’s Brent Moran saved 36-of-40 shots that he faced.
The Rail Yard Dawgs are back home next weekend from Friday-through-Sunday for a three-game series against the Pensacola Ice Flyers. 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.
Photo Credit: Mark Sawyer