HUNTSVILLE, AL. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (26-15-4) stayed composed all night long in Alabama, earning a 4-0 shutout of the Huntsville Havoc (28-15-2) at Von Braun Center on Saturday. Austyn Roudebush had a 19-save goose egg, Dom Marcinkevics notched two goals, Nick Ford tallied three points, and Roshen Jaswal scored his first goal as a Dawg.
Roanoke was a bit unsteady in the first few minutes, as Roudebush came to the rescue with a few big saves in the early going. The SPHL’s top goaltender allowed the Dawgs to settle in the game, and the opener came at 14:20. A faceoff win by Brady Heppner was knocked back by Mac Jansen to Jaswal, who sniped the puck from the left blue line to open the scoring. Roanoke held that 1-0 lead into the intermission.
The Dawgs didn’t stop in the second period, capitalizing for two more quick scores in a 34-second span. The second goal of the night was thanks to Nick DeVito feeding Ford on a partial breakaway, as Ford shielded a Havoc defenseman until he uncorked his shot into the Huntsville net at 4:49. A high, looping dump by Jaswal was settled down by CJ Stubbs just moments later, and Stubbs found Marcinkevics for a sweet finish at 5:23 to make it 3-0 for Roanoke. The three-goal cushion was held into the third period by the visitors.
Huntsville tried to escape the clutches of Roanoke’s defense in the third frame, but the Dawgs suffocated the Havoc down the stretch. Even after emptying their net at the 15:00 mark for a total of three minutes and 37 seconds, it was Marcinkevics who chased down an outlet pass by Stubbs and tucked the puck into the empty net for his second goal of the evening. Roanoke’s win brings the Dawgs within two points of the third-place Havoc in the SPHL standings with 11 games to go.
Roudebush saved all 19 shots faced in net for Roanoke, while Huntsville’s Max Milosek stopped 17-of-20 shots faced. Roanoke went 0-for-1 on the power play, while the Havoc were 0-for-2.
Roanoke will stay on the road Saturday night, March 11 at 8:00 p.m. EST against the Huntsville Havoc at Von Braun Center. 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: Michele Hancock // Field Pass Hockey