The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs will be hoping for a raucous, rocking Berglund Center the first three weekends of February.
The Dawgs play back-to-back Friday and Saturday night games against a trio of opponents invading the home barn, and Roanoke will be looking to solidify its playoff position before a grueling run of road games that keeps the team away from the Berglund Center for over a month.
The Dawgs are coming off a pair of losses against second place Birmingham last weekend, albeit Roanoke didn’t leave Alabama empty handed, gaining a point in both games after falling in overtime to the Bulls 4-3 on Friday night and dropping Saturday night’s nail biter, 3-2, in a shootout. The two setbacks were the first in overtime for Roanoke all season.
Roanoke stands 16-15-2 (34 points) heading into this weekend’s pair of home matchups against last-place Evansville (5-26-2). Anything less than four points against the Thunderbolts will be a disappointment considering Evansville sits firmly in the cellar of the SPHL with only 12 points through 33 games. The Thunderbolts have only one victory on the road all year.
Things will get much tougher February 8-9 when Birmingham visits for a pair as the Bulls remain in hot pursuit of Peoria for first-place in the 10-team league and first choice of their first-round playoff opponent come April in the modified SPHL playoff format.
The Huntsville Havoc round out the final February weekend home stand on the 15th-16th. In their only previous meetings of the season, the Dawgs and Havoc split a pair in November, with the Huntsville win coming at the Berglund Center on Thanksgiving weekend.
Following the Saturday night game against the Havoc, Roanoke embarks on eleven straight on the road beginning at Knoxville the next night and including a three-games-in-three nights stand against first-place Peoria and a three-in-five nights stand at Quad City, Iowa.
When the Dawgs return to Roanoke on March 22 against the Knoxville Ice Bears, only 6 regular season games remain, including a March 23rd visit from Fayetteville and a pair of games at home March 29-30 against Pensacola. Roanoke’s final two to close out the regular season play out April 5-6 In Birmingham.
Bill Turner
(photo to follow separately)
