The Rail Yard Dawgs couldn’t stop a pair of third period goals by the Fayetteville Marksmen on Friday night, losing 2-0 at Berglund Center.
A Tanner Froese strike right off of a faceoff win by Steve Bednard led to the game’s first goal with 12:18 remaining in the game. An empty-netter by Drake Glover continued his strong performance in two games against the Dawgs, as he leaves Roanoke tonight with three goals and one assist over the course of the two games. Fayetteville goalie Jason Pawloski earned his second career SPHL shutout, after notching his first with Huntsville last season.
Roanoke and Fayetteville held each other scoreless throughout the first two periods of play, with neither team establishing solid footing offensively. While both teams each squandered a power play chance in the first period, the most exciting play of the period came at the buzzer. Don Olivieri fired a shot on goal right after the horn sounded that nailed Sean Leonard, who thought it was intentional. The two players were booked for minor offenses to start the second period after a quick scrap that didn’t result in an actual fighting penalty.
Sloppy offensive play in the second period by the Dawgs and Marksmen opened the game up to plenty of counter-attacking opportunities, but none were taken advantage of. Part of that was due to the phenomenal play of the two goaltenders – Jason Pawloski was the star of the game, stopping all of Roanoke’s 22 shots, while Austyn Roudebush saved 25 of 26 shots by the Marksmen in his return to Roanoke.
The faceoff that led to the first goal came after a long stoppage, as Roanoke’s Logan Fredericks went crawling back to the Roanoke bench after a huge hit along the boards. After two or three minutes of nothing happening on the ice, Fayetteville snagged the lead out of thin air after Bednard won the puck, and it found Froese whose shot caromed off of Roudebush’s glove and into the back of the net. Glover’s empty-net goal with 24 seconds remaining capped off the victory for Fayetteville.
CJ Stubbs led all skaters with five shot attempts after attempting zero in the Opening Night loss. Matt O’Dea also finished with three shots for Roanoke, including two end-to-end drives that led to looks on goal. Sean Leonard blocked roughly six shot attempts tonight for the Dawgs.
Roanoke will hit the road for the first time during the 2021-2022 season to date next Friday night, October 29, as they take on the Birmingham Bulls. Puck drop is at 8:00 p.m EST. Season tickets, packages, group tickets, and single game tickets are on sale now for future home games, and you can listen in on the Haley Toyota Rail Yard Dawgs Hockey Network via Mixlr or watch it on HockeyTV.