ROANOKE, Va. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (15-11-3) lost control of the game in the third period on Thursday night, as Roanoke conceded four goals in the final 20 minutes in a 5-2 loss to the Birmingham Bulls (10-13-5) at Berglund Center. Ryan Reifler and Matt O’Dea scored goals for the Dawgs, while Austyn Roudebush stopped 19-of-24 shots in net for the Dawgs.
The Bulls had a nice start on the road, registering the game’s first four shots on net and spending plenty of the early minutes of the game nestled into the Roanoke zone. The Dawgs finally generated some looks later on in the period, and had two late power play chances in the final minutes of the frame after penalties to Birmingham’s Drake Glover and Jordan Gagnon. Roanoke failed to capitalize on the 5-on-3 chance, but still had 64 seconds left on its second power play of the game when time expired on the opening period of action.
Roanoke failed to take advantage of the power play to begin the second period, then quickly conceded a power play goal after the first penalty committed of the game. Ricky Boysen was called for boarding for the Dawgs, and Glover smashed home a cross-crease feed at the right goal post at 5:43 to put the Bulls in front. The Dawgs would answer shortly after, as a long, sustained shift in the offensive zone opened up a lane for Reifler to drive to the net. Reifler smashed his shot from the right wing into the net at 8:03 to tie the game at 1-1. Roanoke would concede another power play chance just past the halfway point in regulation, but had the best chance during the two minutes spent on the penalty kill after a half-breakaway chance for Boysen led to his shot dinging off the right goal post and out. Birmingham’s Connor Scahill would drop the gloves against Roanoke’s Andrew Stacey with four minutes left in the period, but the score remained tied at 1-all when the horn sounded for the second intermission.
Birmingham took over the game in the third period, despite being outshot 20-9 in the final 20 minutes by Roanoke. It started when Colin Tracy’s shot from the left goal line at 1:17 squeezed under Roudebush’s armpit, setting up an easy tap-in finish in the crease for C.J. Walker to give the Bulls the lead. Birmingham would double its lead at 6:24 on a blue line blast on the power play from Doug Scott, as his long-range snipe made it 3-1. A turnover behind the Roanoke net sprung another chance for the visitors, as Arkhip Ledziankou tapped home another easy one from the low slot to make it 4-1 at 12:25. O’Dea would pull Roanoke back into the game on an incredible weaving move through the right-wing circle to the Birmingham net-front, as the captain finished off his own rebound to make it 4-2 at 13:07. The Dawgs would even get a 5-on-3 power play chance in the final six minutes, but the Bulls scored a shorthanded goal on a 2-on-1 chance that Tracy finished off at 16:34. Birmingham’s win marked its fifth straight win over Roanoke head-to-head dating back to March of last season.
Jacob Mucitelli stopped 35-of-37 shots faced in net for Birmingham. The Dawgs went 0-for-6 on the power play, while the Bulls went 2-for-6 on their chances.