ROANOKE, Va. –
Courtesy: Brian Gardner-Rail Yard Dawgs
John Gustafsson and Nick Schneider each scored, but the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs fell to the Mississippi RiverKings, 6-2, Saturday night at the Berglund Center.
Mississippi struck first in the game’s opening minute as Ryan Marcuz deflected a shot from the point that found its way past Matt Zenzola. It added to that lead later in the period while working with an extra attacker thanks to a delayed Roanoke penalty. Dylan Fox dished a pass to Shane Bennett waiting at the back door. He tucked it in to push the lead to 2-0.
The RiverKings added one more before the first period ended as Vojtech Zemlicka buried a slap shot from the point on the power play to make it 3-0.
That score held until the third when Gustafsson was able to light the lamp. He took a pass on the right wing and walked in toward the goal. Gustafsson put a deke on Tyler Green and worked his way around the Mississippi netminder to cash in for Roanoke’s first goal. On Teddy Bear Toss night at the Berglund Center, stuffed animals rained down from the stands as the Dawgs cut the deficit to 3-1.
Mississippi countered a few minutes later as Devin Mantha beat Zenzola from a sharp angle on a power play. The RiverKings added to their lead after that when Dillan Fox scored a pair of goals just over two minutes apart to push the advantage to 6-1.
The Dawgs didn’t go away quietly however as they put one more on the board late in the third. Nick Schneider took a slap shot from the point that bounced off a RiverKing defender and found its way into the net to cut the deficit to 6-2.
The Rail Yard Dawgs fell to to 5-11-2 with the loss while Mississippi improved to 11-7-0. It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Dawgs. Roanoke will hit the road for Evansville on Friday to take on the Evansville Thunderbolts. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:15 PM at the Ford Center.