Dawgs rally past Marksmen 5-3

ROANOKE, Va. – Courtesy: Brian Gardner, Railyard Dawgs

       Eric Witzel scored twice, Brad Barone made 26 saves on 26 shots faced in relief and the Rail Yard Dawgs scored four unanswered goals to come from behind and defeat the Fayetteville Marksmen, 5-3, Friday night at Berglund Center. Roanoke’s win was its third in a row.

Trailing 3-1 in the first period, Roanoke turned to Brad Barone in net after Fayetteville had scored on three of its first four shots. The Dawgs would start to chip away at the lead while working on a power play. Steve Mele fired a shot from just outside the right wing circle that made its way through traffic and to the back of the net, cutting the lead to 3-2.

Roanoke tied the game in the second while working shorthanded. In the midst of the kill, Joe Sova lost his stick in the neutral zone and was handed a replacement by Witzel. Working without a twig, Witzel helped kill of a large chunk of the four-minute high sticking double minor on Colin Murray. With the puck briefly in the neutral zone, Witzel picked up the discarded Sova stick and received a breakout pass from Ben Bauer. He carried it in, deked to his backhand and tucked the puck past Patrick Spano to tie the game at three.

The Dawgs took the lead for good later in the second as Murray took a pass from Zach Tatrn and brought it in on an odd-man rush. He fired a shot low past Spano’s glove and Roanoke led, 4-3.

Witzel scored again in the third to add the insurance marker. Fayetteville fired 26 shots on Barone and couldn’t solve the Dawgs netminder as Roanoke cruised to the 5-3 win.

Mele finished with a goal and an assist, Phil Bronner dished out two assists and Witzel scored for the third straight game and recorded his second straight two-point performance.

Fayetteville jumped out to its 3-1 lead thanks to goals from Ludlow Harris, Dakota Klecha and Kirill Chaika. John Gustafsson picked up the first Roanoke goal.

The Rail Yard Dawgs have now won a season-high three games in a row and improved to 14-19-3 with the victory. Fayetteville fell to 10-21-6 in the loss.

Roanoke will complete its weekend of three games in as many nights on Saturday night at home against the Knoxville Ice Bears. Puck drop at Berglund Center is scheduled for 7:05 PM.