ROANOKE EDGED IN SHOOTOUT, 3-2

 

For Immediate Release:

January 26, 2019

 

ROANOKE EDGED IN SHOOTOUT, 3-2

Jacob Caffrey makes 40 saves in losing effort.

PELHAM, Ala. Jacob Caffrey made 40 saves and Zach Nieminen and Mac Jansen both scored but the Rail Yard Dawgs fell to the Birmingham Bulls in a shootout, 3-2, Saturday night at the Pelham Civic Complex.

Roanoke started the scoring just over five minutes into the first period. Ben Bauer fed Nieminen at the left wing circle and he fired a wrist shot that snapped past Mavric Parks to make it 1-0.

The Bulls evened the score early in the second period. Kasey Kulczycki gained the zone on a rush and ripped a shot that Caffrey got a piece of but the puck trickled in and the game was tied at one.

The Rail Yard Dawgs answered later in the frame as Steve Mele fed Colin Murray just over the blue line. Murray took a shot that Parks blocked but left he left a rebound that Jansen bounded after. Jansen hammered home the loose puck to give the Dawgs the lead back.

Birmingham again evened the score in just over two minutes later when Shane Topf picked up a shot that was blocked and slung it on net. Caffrey was screened and could not track it as the puck hit the back of the net and tied the game at two.

The Bulls kept sustained pressure throughout the third and fired 16 shots on Caffrey’s net. The Dawgs goalie stopped them all however and the game moved to overtime still deadlocked at two.

After an up and down overtime that yielded no goals, the game progressed to a shootout. Jacob Barber and Justin Larson each cashed in for the Bulls while Roanoke could not get anything past Parks and the Bulls took the extra point.

Caffrey made 40 saves on 42 shots and Nieminen and Jansen both scored to pace the Dawgs offense.

Roanoke moved to 16-15-2 in the shootout loss while Birmingham improved to 22-9-2. The Rail Yard Dawgs will return home to take on the Evansville Thunderbolts on Friday night. It’s Everybody Wins Night at Berglund Center – if the Dawgs don’t win the game, everybody in attendance will get a free ticket to a future Friday night game. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 PM and the pregame show on the Haley Toyota Rail Yard Dawgs Hockey Network begins at 6:50 PM.

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