Dawgs' late rally falls short

ROANOKE, Va. – Courtesy of the Rail Yard Dawgs:

Despite two goals from Michael Economos and a furious third-period rally, the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs were defeated by the Macon Mayhem 4-3 Friday night at Berglund Center.
 
Trailing 4-1 in the third, the Dawgs began to chip away at the lead. Economos took the puck at the right wing circle and snapped a shot top shelf past Jordan Ruby to make it 4-2.
 
Later in the period while working shorthanded, Economos and Alex Adams sprinted in with a two-on-one rush. Adams fed Economos in front of the net, and he chipped it over Ruby’s shoulder to cut the deficit to one.
 
Roanoke pulled goaltender Jacob Caffrey for an extra attacker in the final minute of the period and had a pair of chances, but they could not beat Ruby again, and the rally fell just short.
 
The Mayhem struck first in the opening period on a Sam Wilbur wrister off a rush. They would add to their lead later in the period as Caffrey made a sprawling save on a three-on-one chance but couldn’t cover the puck before Jimmy Soper tucked in the rebound to make it 2-0.
 
Roanoke got on the board midway through the second on an impressive play from Brian Rowland. He took a pass in the defensive end and streaked down the left wing. Rowland turned the corner, deked to his backhand and tucked the puck past Ruby to cut the deficit to one.
 
Macon then answered with a power play goal scored on a two-man advantage from Wilber and added to the lead with another power play marker scored by Stathis Soumelidis early in the third.
 
The Rail Yard Dawgs outshot the Mayhem 40-21 in the game, but Ruby made 37 saves on 40 shots to earn the win in net. Economos led the way with two goals for the Dawgs, and Wilbur had two goals and an assist to pace the Macon offense.
 
Roanoke fell to 5-7-0 in the loss, while Macon improved to 11-2-2. The Rail Yard Dawgs and Mayhem will match up again on Saturday night in Roanoke. It’s Star Wars Night with K92 at Berglund Center, and puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The pregame show on the Haley Toyota Rail Yard Dawgs Hockey Network begins at 6:50 p.m.