KNOXVILLE, TN. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (3-5-2) ran out of gas on Sunday evening against the Knoxville Ice Bears (5-3-1) in a 5-1 defeat at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Matt Dorsey scored the lone goal, assisted by C.J. Valerian and Gustav Müller, while Brody Claeys made 41 saves for Roanoke.
Back-and-forth action enabled both teams to get good looks in the first period, with maybe three or four ‘high-quality’ scoring chances for both the Dawgs and the Ice Bears. A power play chance around the halfway point of the frame gave Knoxville a chance on the man-advantage, but Roanoke killed the penalty and took just 35 seconds to open the scoring after getting back to full strength. A transition move by Gustav Müller and a rebound chance by C.J. Valerian eventually caromed the puck into Dorsey’s direction at the right-wing goal line, and Dorsey wrapped around the Knoxville net to the left goal post to tuck home his fourth goal of the season at 11:24. Knoxville outshot Roanoke 12-10 in the first 20 minutes, but the Dawgs took the 1-0 lead to the intermission.
The second period saw a bad bounce and a tough defensive zone turnover plague the Dawgs, as Knoxville would flip the score around on Roanoke. At 3:04, a blue-line shot by Carson Vance went off the crossbar, then ricocheted off the back of Roanoke’s Claeys to tie the game at 1-1. Roanoke’s Valerian would get the better of Vance in a fight at the 8:48 mark, and the Dawgs responded well from the tilt in generating their best chances of the period over the next few shifts. A Roanoke power play at 13:49 should have added on to the momentum, but Knoxville’s penalty kill completely locked down the Dawgs to keep the score tied and take the energy of the game back to their side. A fumbled puck right in the middle of their own zone for the Dawgs gave Knoxville a golden opportunity to take the lead at 17:09, and Jared Westcott found the back of the net for the Ice Bears to make it 2-1. Knoxville took the one-goal lead into the final period.
Knoxville’s third goal came early in the third period, on another deflected Dawgs’ clearance in their own zone. Eric Olson smashed it to the back of the net at 4:27 to make it 3-1 for the Ice Bears. The Dawgs kept pushing, but the Ice Bears took advantage of some tired legs for Roanoke. The fourth goal came at 12:34 on a 2-on-1 rush that saw Blake Tosto center it back unselfishly for Westcott’s second goal to make the score 4-1. Roanoke had a few power play chances in the final 20 minutes, but just couldn’t muster anything to attempt a comeback. One final finish on an odd-man rush for Davide Gaeta gave Knoxville the fifth goal in a 5-1 win over Roanoke. The loss ended a four-game point streak for the Dawgs.
Noah Giesbrecht was excellent in net for his Knoxville debut, stopping 36-of-37 shots faced. The Dawgs were 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Ice Bears went 0-for-2 on their chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will hit the road to face the Macon Mayhem for a three-game set starting on Friday, November 21, at the Macon Coliseum at 7:00 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.