ROANOKE, Va. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (21-18-3) gritted their way to a big bounce-back win on Saturday night, earning a 4-1 win over the Fayetteville Marksmen (16-18-5) at Berglund Center. Noah Finstrom, Bryce Martin, Matt Dorsey, and David Novotny tallied the goals, Travis Broughman had three assists, and Gabe Rosek saved 24-of-25 shots faced in net for the Dawgs.
It didn’t take long for Roanoke to seize control of the first period, as a puck that ricocheted into the Fayetteville zone enabled the Dawgs to open the scoring. Goaltender Mason Beaupit didn’t handle the puck cleanly in his crease, and Finstrom tapped the puck into the net from behind Beaupit at 2:06 to open the scoring. Fayetteville did yield three power play chances in the first 13 minutes of the game, but the Dawgs held the Marksmen to just five total shots on net in the frame, and even generated better chances than Fayetteville’s power play while shorthanded. Roanoke’s Ricky Boysen had one shot bounce out of the crossbar during a penalty kill. The Dawgs ended the frame with their first power play chance of the game, and had 43 seconds left on the man-advantage when the horn sounded to end the first period.
The second period became a special teams extravaganza – Fayetteville received three additional power plays to bring its total up to six, while Roanoke received three power plays of its own, including a five-minute major. Roanoke generated 11 shots on net to Fayetteville’s 10, but Fayetteville’s tying goal came on a shorthanded breakaway rip by Sam Dabrowski at 9:58 that made it a 1-1 game. At 11:12, Roanoke’s C.J. Valerian pummeled Fayetteville’s Sam Anzai in a fight after Valerian had leveled Cooper Fensterstock on a big hit. At 13:26, Roanoke’s Andrew Harley dropped the mitts with Ethan Hawes of the Marksmen. Just 13 seconds later, Fayetteville’s Shane Murphy received a five-minute major penalty for cross-checking Roanoke’s Matt Dorsey, and both players fought as well as Cole Crowder and John Aonso of the Marksmen and Dawgs, respectively. All of those players received game misconducts, except for Dorsey, but Roanoke squandered the five-minute power play as the Marksmen killed the penalty. Fayetteville would carry 63 seconds from its sixth power play of the game into the third period, with the game still tied at 1-1.
Both teams battled tooth and nail for control of the contest in the third period, as both goaltenders made big saves to keep the game knotted up early in the frame. Roanoke committed another penalty, but came up with a seventh kill. At the 13:10 mark, the Dawgs would finally find the breakthrough goal. Finstrom and Broughman combined from the right-wing side to the slot, and Broughman’s extra pass found a wide-open Martin at the left goal post to make it 2-1. Roanoke would tally two empty net goals down the stretch, as Dorsey spun a backhanded clearance from his own bench into the Fayetteville net at 17:37, and Novotny tucked home another empty-net finish at 18:18 to seal the 4-1 victory.
Beaupit stopped 30-of-32 shots faced in net for Fayetteville. The Rail Yard Dawgs went 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Marksmen went 0-for-8 on their chances.