Roanoke Holds On 5-4 Vs. Huntsville, Ties Series Up 1-1 (4-19-24)
By: Joey Raymond
All Photo Credit: Katie Lovell-LMS Network
Roanoke, VA –Coming off of a huge loss in Huntsville, Alabama on Wednesday, the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs welcome in the Huntsville Havoc to the Berglund Center. The Dawgs lost a tough 5-2 game where both teams played physically in an odd environment. Thanks to scheduling issues, the game had to be played at the Huntsville Ice Sports Complex, the Havoc’s practice facility, in front of only 825 fans. That was a stark difference compared to tonight, where the Dawgs thrived in front of their home fans. Roanoke landed in 2nd in the SPHL in attendance, presenting a massive home-field advantage for the Dawgs. For Roanoke, they needed a win to survive. The SPHL playoff format has the first 2 rounds as a best-of-three series, meaning the Dawgs needed to win this game to force a game 3.
Early on in the game, it looked like Roanoke was primed and ready to show up and show out for their fans. It would only take 2 minutes for Roanoke to give the Dawg House a reason to get rowdy. Roanoke would find themselves in a prime opportunity, setting up in the zone and getting the puck to Jacob Kelly. He’d fire a rocket from a couple of feet in front of the blue line, giving Roanoke a 1-0 lead. Only a minute would pass before Jacob Kelly would find himself open once again. This time he’d fire the top shelf to give the Dawgs a 2-0 lead. Several penalties would follow but nothing would come out of them. Just under 8 minutes left in the first period and the Dawgs would strike again. This time coming off the stick of Owen McDade, the puck would find itself under the goalie’s glove and into the back of the net, giving Roanoke a 3-0 lead.
Starting the second period on a penalty kill, Roanoke would fight off the Havoc power play take that momentum, and use it to their advantage. Roughly 3 minutes into the period Huntsville and Roanoke would both take a seat in the penalty box after a fight outside of the Roanoke net. Roanoke’s Billy Roche would take a seat because of a cross-checking penalty which led to Huntsville’s Kyle Clark retaliating and earning himself an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. That would mean 4 on 4 hockey and boy the Dawgs were ready. Putting on the pressure after the penalties, and with the Berglund Center behind them the Dawgs would score 2 goals while on the 4 on 4. The first goal would come from Aiden Girduckis on a breakaway chance, giving the Dawgs a 4-0 lead. Only mere seconds later, thanks to an incredible pass from Dominicks Marcinkevics, Josh Nenadal would fire a rocket while falling into the net, giving Roanoke a 5-0 lead. Following another couple of penalties, the brick wall that was Austin Roudebush would finally crack thanks to an offensive onslaught from the Havoc. After several players attempted to poke it in, Buster Larson would be the player who would finally get it past. The goal would be the first Havoc goal of the night, but the Dawgs would still have a 5-1 lead as the period came to a close.
The third period is when things begin to fall apart for the cardiac canines. Only 1:30 into the period, Roanoke’s Aidan Girduckis would get called for a delay of game penalty, putting Huntsville on the power play. With only 20 seconds left in the penalty, Roanoke would commit a tripping penalty, putting the Havoc on a 5-3 chance. Roanoke would manage to kill the first penalty with no issues, however the second would prove to be a problem. Huntsville would manage to score on the second penalty, with the shot coming off the stick of Kyle Clarke. Huntsville would crawl a goal closer, bringing the score to 5-2. On the play following the goal, Huntsville would take yet another seat in the penalty box, after Mason Palmer punched a Roanoke player after the whistle. While short though, the ever-scrappy Havoc would manage to get a short-handed goal from Matt Doran bringing them within 2 goals.
The Berglund Center grows restless with each minute that passes after the third goal. The Havoc battling back doesn’t sit well in the Dawg House. Unfortunately for the Berglund Center, things wouldn’t get better. With roughly 3 minutes left in the game, the Havoc would pull their goalie. Pulling the goalie would prove to be a successful strategy as the Havoc would score with 35.7 left on the clock. Now with the score being 5-4, the Havoc would be within inches of pulling a huge comeback. The Dawgs would settle in with those final seconds though, firing shot after shot into the Havoc zone. The final seconds would tick away on the clock and the Berglund Center would erupt. Roanoke would seal the win and force a game 3 against the Havoc for a trip to the SPHL finals.
