KNOXVILLE, TN. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (1-0) controlled the tempo all game long on Wednesday night, taking Game One of their first round series in the 2025 President’s Cup Playoffs with a 4-1 win over the Knoxville Ice Bears (0-1) at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Carson Gallagher, Matt O’Dea, Brenden Stanko (1 G, 1 A), and C.J. Valerian all scored goals, Tommy Munichiello had two assists, and Austyn Roudebush was phenomenal with 32 saves on 33 shots faced in net for the Dawgs.
The physicality was on full display from the opening puck drop between these two rivals, with plenty of big hits and big chances in the first frame. Roudebush was pressured on one or two occasions, but the Dawgs pushed the tempo for most of the period with a 10-7 shots on goal advantage. At 9:46, Tommy Munichiello found a loose puck in the left-wing circle and snapped a pass to the front of the Knoxville net. Gallagher was able to receive the puck and roof his shot under the crossbar to give Roanoke a 1-0 lead. The Dawgs did have an early power play chance that came up empty, but took their one-goal cushion to the first intermission.
It was a wild pace of play that headlined the second period, with the two teams combining for 37 shots on net. Out of those, the Dawgs had 23 of those looks, and would add on to their lead on their second power play of the game. A missile from well above the left-wing circle by O’Dea at 4:54 doubled the advantage for Roanoke to 2-0. After a clutch penalty kill for the Dawgs, the game completely broke open into a crazy up-and-down affair. Roanoke would be the only squad to capitalize again, as Stanko squeezed an improbable shot from all the way in the right-wing corner of Knoxville territory to make it 3-0 at 17:19. A late penalty against Roanoke would carry over into the final 20 minutes, but the Dawgs took their three-goal lead to the intermission.
The Ice Bears would fail to score on that power play chance and another early in the third period, but wouldn’t be held off the scoreboard. A centering feed by Carson Vance found Jimmy Soper at the back door to make it a 3-1 game at 9:33. Knoxville continued to pressure the Roanoke defense, but Roudebush and company kept their composure time and again to see the game out for the Dawgs. With just under 20 seconds left, a defensive zone faceoff won by Stanko would be sent the length of the ice by Valerian on the empty net to seal the 4-1 victory. Roanoke leads the best-of-three series 1-0, with a chance to sweep Knoxville back at Berglund Center on Friday night in Game Two.
Stephen Mundinger stopped 37-of-40 shots faced in net for Knoxville. Roanoke went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Ice Bears went 0-for-4 on their power play chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will host Game Two against the Knoxville Ice Bears on Friday, April 11 at Berglund Center. Game Three, if necessary, would take place on Saturday, April 12 at Berglund Center. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7:05 P.M. EST in the Star City. Single game tickets for the postseason are on sale now online and at Berglund Center box office, and season ticket packages for the 2025-2026 season are on sale now through the Rail Yard Dawgs’ front office. Roanoke’s 2025 President’s Cup Playoffs run is sponsored by Haley Toyota.
Photo Credit: Michele Hancock