For Immediate Release:
December 23, 2016
ROANOKE BESTED IN KNOXVILLE, 4-1
Rail Yard Dawgs drop to 0-5-0 against Ice Bears
KNOXVILLE, TN – The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs allowed a pair of goals in the first period and could not climb out of the early hole as they fell to the Knoxville Ice Bears, 4-1, Friday night at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
Knoxville got on the board early in the first as Joseph Manno was sprung for a breakaway. He carried the puck in deep, deked to the backhand and beat Ryan de Melo to put the Ice Bears on top, 1-0.
They added to that advantage later in the frame when de Melo was bested on a rebound. Spencer Metcalfe fired a shot on net that de Melo turned aside but Luke Sandler was waiting on the doorstep. He chipped the puck into the net to extend the lead to 2-0.
Knoxville kept the pressure up in the second period. Working on a power play, Sandler fired a shot that hit bodies on its way to the net. Berkley Scott found the loose puck and wristed it past de Melo, pushing the lead to 3-0.
Roanoke got on the board later in the second after winning a faceoff in the offensive zone. Daniel Vernace glided over from the left wing and scooped up the puck. He found space in the slot and slung a wrister over the shoulder of Brian Billett to make it 3-1.
The Ice Bears got that goal back in the third however when Jake Rivera took a pass in the high slot and blistered it by de Melo on the glove side, extending the Knoxville advantage to 4-1.
Vernace’s goal was his first as a Rail Yard Dawg and his third of the season. de Melo made 31 saves on 35 shots in the losing effort.
Roanoke’s loss dropped its record to 5-11-2 as the Ice Bears improved to 10-5-2 with the win. The Rail Yard Dawgs return to the ice on Tuesday in Fayetteville against the FireAntz. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 PM in North Carolina.
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