ROANOKE, Va. – Confidence is certainly brewing at the Berglund Center as the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs are in the semifinals of the SPHL Playoffs for the second time in franchise history.
After falling behind in a best-of-three series against top-seeded Knoxville in the opening round, the Rail Yard Dawgs rallied to win back-to-back games for the series win.
“It kind of meant everything for us getting over that hump for the next round,” said Rail Yard Dawgs forward Brant Sherwood.
“That workman mentality we’ve shown for the last month, let alone the last weekend, has to be part of our DNA,” said head coach Dan Bremner. “We’re not going to hold on to it. We enjoyed it, definitely celebrated it and it was well-deserved for our guys, they deserved the moment to shine and now we move our focus onward.”
Roanoke has reaped the benefits of excellent play in goal from both Austin Roudebush and Sammy Bernard, a late addition in the second half of the season.
“It’s been amazing. Ever since Sammy came on board, we’ve rotated Roudebush back in and he had a great night as well. Sammy has taken the brunt of the load,” Bremner said.
“He’s a real calming presence for us. As soon as he came in we kind of just hopped on his back and he’s been dialed in every since. He’s really smart with his angles,” Sherwood said.
On the offensive side of the ice, Gehrett Sargis has provided a much-needed spark of energy for what has proven to be a long season for many of the Rail Yard Dawgs players.
“They’ve gone through a ton of ups and downs and it just made them more resilient and more ready to claw their way through anything right now,” said Bremner.
Roanoke will now face Huntsville in the semifinals round, a team they swept at the Berglund Center just three weeks ago. But it’s also a team that the Dawgs know are totally different in the postseason.
“Huntsville as far as I’m concerned is the gold standard for postseason play over the last 3 or 4 hockey seasons in the SPHL so we know they have a veteran group, very composed,” said Bremner. “They’re on the same game plan and they execute very well. So we have a huge challenge in front of us and we’re looking forward to it.”
“I’ve lost to them in previous years in the first round and they’re a team that doesn’t quit so we’re going to have to bring that same energy and exceed it,” Sherwood said.
Below is the schedule for the second-round series between #2 Huntsville vs. #8 Roanoke:
- Game 1 – Thursday, April 21 at Roanoke – 7:05 pm
- Game 2 – Saturday, April 23 at Huntsville – 7:00 pm
- Game 3 – Sunday, April 24 at Huntsville – 5:00 pm (if necessary)