MACON, GA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (4-5-2) dominated the game on Friday night against the Macon Mayhem (2-3-3), putting on a show in a historic 5-0 shutout win at the Macon Coliseum. With his win tonight, Roanoke goaltender Austyn Roudebush is now the all-time SPHL career wins leader among goalies with 112 career victories, passing Peter Di Salvo. Roudebush recorded a 41-save shutout in the win, as his 15th career SPHL shutout ranks second in league history. The Dawgs also had goals from Noah Finstrom, Travis Broughman, Trey Fechko, Joe Widmar, and Matt O’Dea to lead the way. With head coach Dan Bremner suspended for tonight’s game by the SPHL, assistant coach Jeff Jones stepped in and coached Roanoke to the victory in his debut as acting coach.
Both teams were a bit slow out of the gate, with a few chances for Roanoke’s Ryan Reifler standing out in the early action. At 10:46, the Dawgs would draw first blood. Reifler and Kyle Heitzner forced a turnover behind the Macon net, and Reifler’s centering feed found Finstrom for a tidy one-time finish to give the Dawgs the lead. After Roanoke killed off a Macon power play, the Dawgs would get their own chance late in the period. Right off of the offensive zone faceoff, Matt O’Dea and Gustav Müller worked the puck along the right-wing side until they found Broughman for a blistering shot that gave the Dawgs the 2-0 lead. Roanoke would take that two-goal cushion into the intermission.
It didn’t take long for the Dawgs to add on to their lead in the second period, as the visitors made it 3-0 right at the 5:00 mark. An incredible splitting pass by Roanoke’s C.J. Valerian from his own zone found a wide-open Fechko at the middle of the Macon blue line, and Fechko potted his third goal of the year on the half-breakaway to extend the advantage. Macon’s Max Messier would drop the mitts with Heitzner of Roanoke at 10:24, and the Mayhem would use that as a jolt to generate a few shots late in the middle frame. But Roudebush kept Macon at bay, making 12 more saves in the second period alone, and Roanoke would hold its 3-0 lead at the end of 40 minutes.
The Dawgs kept their foot on the gas pedal to close the game out, as Fechko found Widmar for a missile of a one-time snipe less than two minutes into the third period (live stats for accurate time-stamp unavailable due to connection issue). Roanoke would earn a 5-on-3 power play chance later on in the period, and Reifler found O’Dea for another hard shot that Roanoke’s captain put into the back of the net to make it 5-0. Macon struggled to muster much fight against a Roanoke team inspired to battle for Roudebush’s record-setting win and Jones stepping in for his spot-start at head coach, and the Dawgs cruised to the 5-0 victory.
Bailey Brkin stopped 30-of-35 shots faced in net for Macon. The Dawgs were 2-for-3 on the power play, while the Mayhem went 0-for-2 on their chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will stay on the road to face the Macon Mayhem on Saturday, November 22, at the Macon Coliseum at 6:00 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.