FAYETTEVILLE, NC. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (1-4) fought hard on Saturday night against the Fayetteville Marksmen (2-1-1), but couldn’t get the offense rolling in a 2-1 loss at the Crown Coliseum. Joe Widmar scored Roanoke’s lone goal, assisted by Bryce Martin and Trey Fechko.
An early power play chance nearly led to the game’s opening goal for the Dawgs, as they registered five shots on net after Fayetteville’s Hlib Varava was called for high-sticking at 1:36. While Roanoke came close, the visitors couldn’t find the opening score on that power play, and Fayetteville started to gain momentum from the early penalty kill. Both goaltenders made great saves throughout the frame, both teams failed to score on two power play chances each, but neither team was able to light the lamp. Roanoke captain Matt O’Dea did wallop Fayetteville rookie Coltan Wilkie in a fight within the last four minutes of the period, but the game remained scoreless at the first intermission.
The Dawgs would take the momentum from O’Dea’s fight into the middle frame, and notched the game’s opening goal. Widmar would jump all over a rebounding puck off of the initial shot of Martin from the right-wing dot, and the Dawgs took the 1-0 lead at 4:48. Roanoke would have to kill off two more Fayetteville power plays, while the Marksmen killed off 40 seconds of a Dawgs power play, but the tying goal would come at full strength for the hosts. A failed Dawgs clearance at the blue line allowed Fayetteville to pinball the puck into the slot for Chance Gorman, and he tapped the puck to the backdoor for a point-blank finish by Tim Kent at 15:55 to tie the game at 1-1. That score would hold heading to the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Roanoke would hit the crossbar on a Fechko chance and Andrew Stacey would hit the side of the Fayetteville net on a rebound chance, as the Dawgs couldn’t find the go-ahead goal. Fayetteville’s Blake Holmes tallied the eventual game-winning goal on a long-range shot during a 4-on-2 transition at 10:26 to make it 2-1. A late power play chance would give the Dawgs a 6-on-4 opportunity once they emptied the net, and O’Dea would hit the side of the right goalpost, but Roanoke failed to find the tying goal in a 2-1 defeat.
Brody Claeys stopped 22-of-24 shots in net for Roanoke, while Colby Muise saved 16-of-17 shots faced for Fayetteville. The Dawgs were 0-for-5 on the power play, while the Marksmen went 0-for-6 on its chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will stay on the road to face the Fayetteville Marksmen on Sunday, November 2, at the Crown Coliseum at 3:00 P.M. EST. Season ticket packages and group tickets are on sale by contacting the Rail Yard Dawgs’ front office. Single game tickets for the season are on sale now online and at Berglund Center box office.