It ain’t over until the fat lady sings.
Fans who left the Berglund Center early to beat the traffic Thursday night missed the fat lady. They also missed the Dawgs finest virtuoso.
Down 3-1 with under six minutes left in the game, Roanoke scored twice to knot things at 3 at the end of regulation, then punched home the winner at the 2:59 mark of overtime to shock the Fayetteville Marksmen 4-3.
It was the Dawgs’ third straight win and first win in overtime this season. The two points gained with the win pushed Roanoke into fifth place in the SPHL standings.
Fayetteville scored the only goal of the first period on a 5-on-3 power play and Roanoke’s Brady Heppner responded with the only goal of the second frame to leave the teams tied 1-1 heading to the final 20 minutes.
The Marksmen went ahead 2-1 at the 4:42 mark of the third on Bryce Ferrell’s netter, and looked to be in the catbird’s seat when F.X. Girard made it 3-1 Fayetteville with 6:30 remaining.
Roanoke summoned Santa down the chimney, and Jeff Jones scored 59 seconds later to cut the Dawg deficit to 3-2. Roanoke pulled goalie Austyn Roudebush with 1:40 left in regulation and the strategy paid dividends when Heppner fired home a rebound at the 18:31 mark.
C.J. Stubbs finished off the comeback with a rebound effort that found the twine in overtime.
Roanoke returns to action the day after Christmas with a matinee matchup on the road in Knoxville. The Dawgs return to the Berglund Center for home games on Thursday, December 30 (7:05 puck drop) in a rematch with the Marksmen, followed by a 6:05 start on New Year’s Eve against the SPHL first place Huntsville Havoc, which has 19 wins in 21 games this season.
Bill Turner
