ROANOKE, VA – The Berglund Center in Roanoke, Virginia was the setting for tonight’s rivalry matchup pitting the young and feisty Marksmen against the aggressive Rail Yard Dawgs. These two teams have had a ton of back-and-forth contests so far this season, most of which saw the Marksmen prevail. The Marksmen fell to the Mayhem last night 4-2, but the Rail Yard Dawgs found themselves securing a win last night against Knoxville.
At the start of the game, Ben Bauer was called on an interference penalty. With Bauer in the box, the Marksmen had an early opportunity to apply pressure on the Dawgs penalty kill. Zach Tatrn saw an opening and capitalized, scoring his third goal of the season on the power play. Jesse Schwartz was called on a delay of game penalty, putting the Marksmen back on the power play. The Marksmen attacked the net, shooting five shots-on-goal. The Marksmen defense were playing flawless for the first part of the period, holding the Dawgs to no shots-on-goal. The first shot on goal for the Rail Yard Dawgs was a goal, Colin Murray was credited with the goal. Murray’s goal evened the score for the Dawgs. Tyler Palmer was called on a cross checking penalty that proved costly for the Marksmen. With the Marksmen down a man, Jeff Jones found an opportunity to score and did. With Jones’ goal, the Dawgs took a 2-1 lead. Steve Mele had a brutal hit on Darren McCormick, giving him a boarding with an intent to injure penalty. Cody Brown refused to let his teammates get pushed around and him and Mele dropped gloves. Brown and Mele traded blows, looking like a boxing match on ice.
After Mele’s five minute major, the Marksmen entered the second period on the power play and looking to even things up. Sean Fedrow and Zach Nieminen had a breakaway and Fedrow found the back of the net on a short handed goal. Not even a minute after Nieminem’s goal, Travis Jeke set up a perfect pass to Marksmen Captain Jake Hauswirth, scoring his third goal of the season. Zach Tatrn was sent to the box on a hooking call, putting the Marksmen on a penalty kill. The Marksmen killed off their penalty only to have Alfred Johansson was sent to penalty box for a high sticking, putting the Marksmen back on the PK. Nothing came of the Dawgs power play however.
As the two teams met at center ice, it was apparent the Marksmen had to do everything they could to score and the Dawgs had to stop them. Brian Bowen ripped one past Roanoke Goalie Jacob Caffrey, scoring his sixth goal of the season and second of the weekend. Bowen’s goal evened things up at 3-3. Both teams found themselves in a battle of endurance, playing a little over six minutes without a stoppage of play.
Just when things seemed like they couldn’t get any better, the Marksmen and Rail Yard Dawgs found themselves in overtime. After a controversial call, Travis Jeke was sent to the penalty box for the remainder of overtime. The Marksmen managed to hold on and stop the Rail Yard Dawgs power play, taking things to overtime.
Cody Brown was the first shooter in the shootout that was stopped. Dillon Fox challenged Dillon Kelley and Kelley made the stop. Brian Bowen was next up, hitting the goalpost. Steve Mele was the next skater up, sneaking one past Dillon Kelley. Jake Hauswirth missed his shot, putting the Marksmen in an uncomfortable situation. Darren McCormick found his way around Jacob Caffrey for a Marksmen goal. The Dawgs scored once again, forcing the Marksmen’s hand. Max Cook skated his way to the crease and was stopped. With Caffrey’s save, that gave the Rail Yard Dawgs the 4-3 win in the shootout.
Both netminders had impressive nights, doing all but standing on their hands. Dillon Kelley had the best performance of the night, stopping 32 shots-on-goal.
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