ROANOKE, VA. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (13-6-2) made a late charge to force the game beyond regulation on New Year’s Eve, but came up just short against the Fayetteville Marksmen (15-9-1) in a 6-5 shootout loss on Tuesday night at Berglund Center. Mac Jansen (2 G, 1 A) scored twice, and Carson Gallagher (1 G, 3 A), Stephen Alvo (1 G, 2 A), and Gustav Müller all added goals as Roanoke lost for the first time at home since November 1, snapping a nine-game home winning streak.
Both teams were clean and efficient on offense in the first period, as both sides registered double-digit shots on goal in the opening frame. Roanoke would strike first on a pretty redirect by Gallagher on a shot from the right-wing point by Bryce Martin to give the Dawgs the lead at 9:17. An offensive zone turnover by the Dawgs would spring Fayetteville’s Ryan Nolan on a breakaway just over a minute later, and Nolan potted the puck at 10:35 to tie the score. The Dawgs would reinstate their lead when Müller collected a rebounding puck off of a shot from Jansen and easily slotted home at 12:22. Roanoke held a 2-1 lead at the first intermission.
An early power play allowed Jansen to smash home a close-range pass from in behind the Fayetteville net by Nick Ford to give the Dawgs a 3-1 lead at the 1:55 mark of the middle frame. Fayetteville quickly answered on a transition blast from the left-wing circle by Alex Gritz that made it 3-2 at 3:11. A tipped shot by Austen Long on the initial chance by John Moncovich enabled the Marksmen to tie the game on the power play at 3-3 at 9:40. Fayetteville continued pushing after killing off a double-minor penalty assessed to Elias Thompson, as Nolan broke out again in transition for his second goal of the game at 16:47 to give the visitors their first lead. An extra pass on another odd-man rush by Nolan to Gritz at 18:53 capped off four unanswered goals by the Marksmen in the second period, as Fayetteville led 5-3 heading to the third period.
Roanoke was chasing the game throughout the third period, but struggled to find an opening in Fayetteville’s defense as the Marksmen were content to sit back and burn clock. In the final minutes after emptying the net for the extra attacker, Alvo would cut the deficit to 5-4 on a blue-line bullet at 17:47 to bring the Dawgs within one. Jansen smashed home a rebound just over a minute later with the Roanoke net empty as well, and the Dawgs had tied the game at 5-5 with just 71 seconds left in regulation. The game required overtime, and a Roanoke power play led the Dawgs to outshoot the Marksmen 10-1 in the extra five-minute frame. Fayetteville stood tall and forced a shootout – the first time Roanoke had ventured beyond overtime this season. Nolan and Müller each scored in the third inning, but Vitali Mikhailov gave the Marksmen the win when he scored in the top of the fifth inning.
Austyn Roudebush saved 22-of-27 shots faced for Roanoke, while Ryan Kenny stopped 42-of-47 shots faced in net for the Marksmen. Fayetteville went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Roanoke went 1-for-4 on its chances.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will stay home on Friday, January 3 against the Huntsville Havoc at Berglund Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 P.M. EST in the Star City. Single game tickets for the season are on sale now online and at Berglund Center box office.
Photo Credit: Bryar Turner