ROANOKE, Va. – The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs scored three unanswered goals, punctuated by Dillan Fox’s overtime game-winner, as they came from behind to defeat the Knoxville Ice Bears in extra time, 4-3, Saturday night at Berglund Center.
While trailing 3-1 in the second period, Roanoke was granted a power play. Steve Mele fed a pass to Cody Dion and streaked toward the net. Dion fired a shot from the right wing boards that Mele deflected past Michael Santaguida, bringing the Dawgs within one.
Roanoke would even the score late in the second. Maxime Guyon slung a wrister from the high slot that Santaguida stopped, but Ben Bauer was crashing for the rebound. He rammed the loose puck into the net and the Rail Yard Dawgs evened the score at three.
After a scoreless third period, the Dawgs and Ice Bears moved into overtime. With just under two minutes to play in the extra frame, Fox gathered the puck and got the edge on the defense. He carried it to the crease, deked from his backhand to his forehand and slipped a shot past Santaguida for the game-winner.
The Ice Bears got the scoring started in the first period when Lucas Bombardier notched a power play goal. Roanoke answered just over a minute later as Fox carried the puck in on an odd-man rush and stuffed it past Santaguida for his first goal of the night.
Knoxville took the lead back later in the first when Brandon McMartin beat Brad Barone with a snap shot. They extended the lead to 3-1 on a Marcus Ortiz power play goal in the second.
Fox paced the offense with two goals, Guyon had three assists and Witzel finished with two assists. Barone earned the win in net with 25 saves on 28 shots.
The Rail Yard Dawgs earned their first win of the season and improved to 1-1-0 while the Ice Bears earned a point and moved to 1-0-1. Roanoke next hits the ice on Friday night at home against the Fayetteville Marksmen. Puck drop at Berglund Center is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Air time on the Haley Toyota Rail Yard Dawgs Hockey Network is set at 6:50 p.m.