For Immediate Release:
October 21, 2016
DAWGS SHUT OUT BY ICE BEARS IN FRONT OF SELLOUT CROWD
6,188 attend first game in franchise history
ROANOKE, VA – The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs out-shot the Knoxville Ice Bears, 27-23, but were shut out, 2-0, Friday night at the Berglund Center. A sell-out crowd of 6,188 attended the first game in franchise history.
The game’s opening period was littered with penalties, including a fight 32 seconds in between Roanoke’s Michael Turner and Knoxville’s Jake Rivera. The two teams went on to combine for 24 penalty minutes in the first. Late in the frame, David Gandara led a three-man rush and ripped a shot from the left faceoff circle that trickled through the legs of Charles Grant but hit the post.
Knoxville got on the board at the 12:29 mark in the third when Jake Rivera barreled down the right wing on a two-on-one break. Brandon Anderson stopped his initial shot but Rivera slid a rebound past Anderson for the game’s first goal.
The Ice Bears padded their advantage nearly three minutes later on a power play. Mark Pustin found Danny Cesarz on the left faceoff circle, who then fired a one-touch pass to Kyle McNeil. McNeil redirected the pass past Anderson and game Knoxville a 2-0 lead at 9:38.
Gandara’s shot would prove to be the closest that the Dawgs would come as Roanoke finished the game 0-for-6 on the power play and was shut out in the first game in franchise history. The Ice Bears converted one of six power play chances.
Anderson stopped 21 of 23 shots in his SPHL debut. Grant stopped all 27 shots he faced to earn the shutout and the win in his professional debut.
The Rail Yard Dawgs will now hit the road for Knoxville and the second half of a home and home set with the Ice Bears. Saturday’s puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 PM at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Roanoke’s next home game is against the Fayetteville FireAntz at 7:05 PM on Friday, November 4.