There was the good and the bad for the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs this past weekend.
The good was the Dawgs split the weekend series with the Marksmen.
The bad was the Dawgs fell further behind the Marksmen for the 8th place spot.
Roanoke held the trump card Saturday night at the Berglund Center, looking for a sweep of the 2-game series that had opened Friday night in Fayetteville with the Dawgs winning in overtime 2-1.
The Marksmen, however, held serve on Roanoke ice, jumping out to a 2-0 lead and holding on for the 4-3 win. Fayetteville returned to North Carolina with 3 points for their weekend efforts, while Roanoke had to settle with only 2.
The Dawgs plastered Fayetteville goalie Kent Patterson with a team-record 54 shots Saturday night. Despite the barrage, the Marksmen led 1-0 after one period and pushed their lead to 2-0 on a breakaway goal by John Schaivo early in the second. Roanoke rebounded with goals by Steve Mele and one-timer by Travis Armstrong that tied things at 2.
Fayetteville regained the lead on a goal by Joe Kalisz that put the Marksmen up 3-2 heading to the second intermission. Roanoke kept the pressure on Patterson in the third, putting 26 shots on goal, with Colin Murray gathering up a Mele rebound to tie the game at three.
But, Fayetteville got the game-winner on the power play courtesy of Jake Hauswith’s put-back minutes later, and the Marksmen held on down the stretch despite Roanoke pulling goalie Ryan de Melo late in the game.
On Friday night, Dawg goalie Brad Barone made 50 saves as Roanoke pulled out the 2-1 shootout win. All the scoring in regulation came in the second period. Roanoke’s Mathias Tellstrom scored his first professional goal when he gathered in a Mele shot and slammed it past Patterson to put the Dawgs up 1-0. Fayetteville tied things at 1 later in the period on a power play goal by Kyle McNeil that would prove to be the last goal of regulation.
Neither team scored in overtime, sending the game to the five-shot shootout format. Jamie Hill scored in the first round for the Marksmen, but Barone stoned Fayetteville in the next four rounds. Meanwhile, Murray and Zach Tatrn scored in the second and fourth round, respectfully, among the Dawgs’ five chances to secure the Roanoke win.
Roanoke returns to action Thursday night at the Berglund Center when the Birmingham Bulls visit for the 7:05 puck drop.
Bill Turner
