Roanoke Finds The Mark Against Fayetteville With A 4-3 Victory (3-30-24)
By: Joey Raymond
All Photo Credit: Katie Lovell-LMS Network
Roanoke, VA —The Dawg House is alive and well as the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs looked to seal the three seed heading into the playoffs. Roanoke welcomed the Fayetteville Marksmen for the second time in as many days. Last night the Dawgs and Marksmen battled it out in an offensive showdown where Roanoke won 8-5. With the win last night, the Dawgs also clinched home-field advantage in the first round of the SPHL playoffs, something that Roanoke desperately wanted. A big key for Roanoke in this series is that Fayetteville is missing their main goaltender Ryan Kenny. Kenny has been a huge addition for the Marksmen going 16-10-4 for Fayetteville with a 2.47 goals-against average. Not having him leads to goals, something that was apparent in last night’s high-scoring matchup.
Starting the game, Roanoke would come out and set an offensive presence early. Matteo Digiulio would fire off a shot 40 seconds in that would ring true, giving Roanoke an early 1-0 lead. Only 4 minutes and 20 seconds later, DominicksMarcinkevics would find himself in the right place at the right time, firing the puck into the net off of a rebound. The goal would net the Dawgs their second score of the game, bringing their lead to 2-0. 6 minutes left in the first period, the Dawgs were forced to play 5 on 3 after getting called for both tripping (Aidan Girduckis) and slashing (Dominiks Marcinkevics). During the Marksmen power play, Fayetteville would commit a penalty of their own, as Jordan Timmons gets called for slashing about a minute into the power play. The Dawgs would manage to kill their penalty, going on their power play for roughly a minute. The Marksmen survive the power play, killing it off with little to no issue.
In a burst of deja vu, Roanoke would find themselves scoring 40 seconds into the second once again, off the stick of Matteo Digiulio. The goal would give Roanoke a 3-0 lead. Not too long afterward, Fayetteville’s Jamie Dorsey would get called for charging, putting the Dawgs back on the power play for the second time. Fayetteville would kill the penalty with no issues. Only briefly after the penalty kill, Fayetteville would finally be able to formulate a response to Roanoke’s offensive onslaught. The Marksmen would work their way down the ice, finding themselves in a 2 skater breakaway. The goal would come off the stick of Adam Pitters, who would find the net thanks to a perfect pass from Jordan Timmons. Fayetteville would seem to catch the momentum and ride it to another goal only a few minutes later, this time off the stick of Simon Boyko, bringing the score to 3-2. Before the end of the second period, In a rare moment, the goalkeeper, Austin Roudebush would get called for slashing. This would force Stephen Alvo to serve the time for the penalty, putting the Marksmen on the power play. Thankfully for Roanoke, they’d be able to kill the penalty with no issues.
The third period would start slowly, with both teams turning the puck over quite a bit. After a while the teams would settle in though, allowing Roanoke an opportunity to score. They would take full advantage, as Matt O’Dea would send a mammoth shot into the back of the net, stretching Roanoke’s lead to 4-2. We wouldn’t see any other action until 4 minutes left in the third period when Fayetteville would pull their goalie, allowing them to play 6 on 5 hockey. The bold move would pay off, as a tricky rebound would trickle past Austin Roudebush and into the net. The goal would be credited to Simon Boyko, bringing the score to 4-3. Fayetteville would put the goalie back in but only for a few minutes, pulling him again with just under 2 minutes left to go. Berglund Center reaches the loudest pitch it has all night as Dawgs fans try to breathe life into the Roanoke defense. The Dawgs defense would hold strong, clearing the puck with 5 seconds left to seal the win.
