KNOXVILLE, TN. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (26-17-4) were snakebitten all night on Friday, falling 4-0 to the Knoxville Ice Bears (29-17-3) at Knoxville Civic Coliseum. The Dawgs outshot the Ice Bears 33-21, but four dinged posts and some other missed opportunities gave Roanoke its third shutout loss of the year.
Roanoke started slow, allowing two goals before the first media timeout. Rasmuz Waxin-Engback opened the scoring on a one-timer from the right wing at 1:28, then Colton Fletcher redirected a pass into the net at 4:23 for a power play goal to make it 2-0 for Knoxville. Roanoke then outshot the Ice Bears 10-3 the rest of the period, hitting the crossbar once and missing a few more golden chances. The Dawgs trailed by a pair after 20 minutes.
Early in the second period, a Bailey Conger breakaway that led to contact with Roanoke’s Austyn Roudebush didn’t end up with a goaltender interference, and the Ice Bears pushed their advantage to 3-0 at 2:43. The Dawgs continued to generate chances, but just couldn’t buy a goal. Heading into the second intermission, Knoxville’s three-goal lead remained unscathed.
Knoxville capped off the scoring at 2:53 in the final frame, as Waxin-Engback tucked home a feed at the top of the crease to make it 4-0. That forced a goaltending change for the Dawgs, as Tyler Roy made his pro debut the rest of the way. Several more Roanoke chances, including a major power play after Knoxville’s Justin Portillo received a game misconduct for an illegal check to the head, all came up empty for the Dawgs.
Roudebush saved 11-of-15 shots faced in net before Roy came in to stop all six shots that he faced for Roanoke, while Knoxville’s Kristian Stead had a 33-save shutout. Roanoke went 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Ice Bears were 1-for-6.
Roanoke will stay on the road Saturday night, March 18 at 7:35 p.m. EST against the Knoxville Ice Bears at Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Season tickets and single-game tickets are available by calling the Rail Yard Dawgs office, visiting the ‘Tickets’ page on our website, or by visiting the Berglund Center box office.
Photo Credit: Brian Collett // BC Captures