KNOXVILLE, TN. – The Rail Yard Dawgs roared to life late in the first period and never looked back, beating the Knoxville Ice Bears 3-1 on Saturday night at Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Dillon Radin, Brady Heppner, and Travis Broughman tallied goals for the Dawgs.
The first period started out in Knoxville’s favor, with Andrew Bellant roofing a shot under the crossbar for a fantastic score at 4:00. Roanoke goalie Brody Claeys bailed the Dawgs out on one or two incredible saves, until the momentum shifted with six minutes remaining. Radin’s forechecking pressure forced a turnover, and he backhanded the puck into the net to tie the score at 14:02. A late Roanoke penalty put them on the penalty kill into the second period, but the score was tied 1-1.
Roanoke killed off the penalty and quickly got to work on offense. A double minor high-sticking call against Knoxville yielded a Dawgs power play, and Broughman centered the puck into the crease for Heppner to tap home at 7:32. Broughman scored one of his own after some beautiful passing opened up the Knoxville defense at 13:07, giving the Dawgs a 3-1 lead. Roanoke’s Hunter Bersani fought Knoxville’s Elliott St. Pierre late in the period, and the Dawgs took a two-goal cushion into the locker room.
The third period saw Roanoke’s defense squeeze any life out of a potential Knoxville comeback, with the Ice Bears limited to just five shots on goal. Each team had a power play chance, but the Dawgs were able to coast to a victory on the road.
Brody Claeys stopped 18-of-19 shots faced for the Dawgs, while Jimmy Poreda made 27 saves on 30 shots faced in the loss for the Ice Bears. Roanoke was 1-for-2 on the power play, while the Ice Bears went 0-for-3.
Roanoke will hit the road to face the Fayetteville Marksmen tomorrow, November 6, at 3:00 p.m. EST, and you can watch the game on HockeyTV or listen for free on Mixlr. 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.