The Rail Yard Dawgs announced on Tuesday that Matt Beer would return for Roanoke’s training camp, as well as two defensemen — Sean Leonard and Charlie Spetz.
Beer has played 88 career regular season games in the SPHL, including 58 for the Rail Yard Dawgs during the 2017-2018 and 2019-2020 seasons. A native of Corunna, Ontario, the six-foot forward tallied 16 goals and 16 assists for Roanoke during his two seasons in the Star City. During the 2018-2019 season that Beer spent away from the Dawgs, he scored 13 goals and tacked on 32 assists in just 19 appearances with the Limburg Eaters, a team in the Belgian/Dutch BeneLiga, which is the top league in Belgium and the Netherlands.
“After a slow start to the COVID-shortened 2019-2020 season with the Dawgs, Matt took 2020-2021 away from the game,” said Coach Bremner about Beer’s return. “Beer was a consistent contributor in our 2017-2018 lineup, and we’ll be looking for him to find that form again. He’s valuable to team chemistry with the type of non-stop energy he brings to the locker room, practice, and games.”
Leonard joins the Dawgs after spending his first professional campaign in the FPHL with the Port Huron Prowlers and the Elmira Enforcers during the 2020-2021 season. In 21 combined appearances last year, the left-shot defenseman recorded five assists. During his four-year collegiate career, the five-foot-ten defenseman earned second-team All-MASCAC honors as a senior for UMass-Dartmouth (NCAA-DIII) after transferring from SUNY-Fredonia. In 101 total college games, Sean totaled 45 points.
Spetz enters his rookie season with the Rail Yard Dawgs after a collegiate career that featured two different schools as well. Another left-shot defenseman, Spetz transferred to Wilkes University after playing his freshman season at New England College. In 65 combined career games, the six-foot-one defenseman recorded 14 assists, and was named to the All-MAC first team following the 2020-2021 season.
Roanoke hits the ice for its first home game in 601 days on Friday, October 15 at 7:05 P.M. against the Fayetteville Marksmen. Opening Night is sponsored by Haley Toyota of Roanoke. Season tickets, packages, and group tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by contacting the Dawgs’ front office at 540-266-7343.