ROANOKE, VA. – The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs (23-19-3) fell to the Quad City Storm (19-21-5) by an 8-1 final score on Saturday night at Berglund Center. Devin Sanders tied the SPHL single-game record with five goals to power the visiting team.
It took just 63 seconds for Sanders to strike for his first goal of the night, setting the tone early. He added his second on the power play at the 4:33 mark to give Quad City a two-goal edge at the first intermission.
The Storm extended the lead to 4-0 on goals from Denver Craig and Leif Mattson before Roanoke broke through. Andrew Harley drew the defense and delivered a cross-ice feed to Tim Manning, who buried the Dawgs’ lone goal at 8:57 of the second period.
Sanders answered with three more goals of his own in the middle frame, pushing the advantage to 7-1 after 40 minutes.
Special teams played a decisive role. After going 3-for-3 on the power play and 8-for-8 on the penalty kill the night prior, Roanoke saw the script flip Saturday. Quad City converted four times on seven power-play opportunities, while the Dawgs finished 0-for-10 with the man advantage.
Mitchell Haight capped the scoring at 7:20 of the third period with the Storm’s eighth and final goal.
The two clubs split the weekend series, combining for 17 total goals across the pair of games. The season series between these two concludes even at 2-2.
Roanoke remains home to host the Knoxville Ice Bears on Friday, February 27, at Berglund Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EST. Season ticket packages and group tickets are available through the Rail Yard Dawgs front office. Single-game tickets can be purchased online or at Berglund Center box office.
Photo Credit: David Ingraham