ROANOKE, Va. – The Fayetteville Marksmen scored three times in the third period and held off a late push to defeat the Rail Yard Dawgs 4-3 on Friday night at Berglund Center.
Joe Widmar led Roanoke (20-18-3) with a goal and two assists, while Noah Finstrom and Gustav Müller also scored. Goaltender Austyn Roudebush made 20 saves on 23 shots.
The first period was scoreless, with both teams trading quality chances. Fayetteville (16-17-5) missed an open net early, and Roanoke hit the post twice, as the Dawgs outshot the Marksmen 9-7 in the opening 20 minutes.
Roanoke struck first in the second period when Finstrom tipped John Aonso’s shot from the blue line at 8:10 for a 1-0 lead. Fayetteville answered less than two minutes later, as Cooper Fensterstock finished a 2-on-1 rush at 9:58 for his first SPHL goal to tie the game 1-1. Despite Roanoke outshooting Fayetteville 14-9 in the period, the teams went to the second intermission even.
Fayetteville took control in the third. Kyler Head put the Marksmen ahead at 5:25, batting a loose puck out of midair into the net. Coltan Wilkie extended the lead to 3-1 at 12:40 after a puck deflected into the slot.
Roanoke cut the deficit to one on a 6-on-4 power-play goal by Widmar at 16:39, but Trey Fechko restored a two-goal cushion with an empty-netter at 17:25. Müller pulled the Dawgs back within one at 19:15, snapping home a cross-crease feed from Widmar, but Fayetteville held on in a chippy final minute.
Tempers flared after Müller’s goal, resulting in multiple penalties and several players ejected from the game in the closing seconds.
Mason Beaupit stopped 34 of 37 shots for Fayetteville. Roanoke went 1 for 3 on the power play, while the Marksmen were 0 for 3.