ROANOKE, Va. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (20-10-3) struggled on Friday night, dropping their fourth consecutive game in a 5-2 loss to the Pensacola Ice Flyers at Berglund Center.
Nick DeVito scored once for the Dawgs, while captain Mac Jansen broke the all-time franchise goals record – previously set by Jeff Jones – with his 58th goal as a Rail Yard Dawg.
Roanoke outshot the Ice Flyers 17-9 in the first period, but great goaltending and efficient offense by Pensacola quickly turned the game in the visitors’ favor. A Kolten Olynek power play blast opened the scoring for the Ice Flyers at 11:30, followed by a rebound goal by Pensacola’s Malik Johnson at 17:12. The Dawgs pulled one back at 18:23 on a power play rip by DeVito to make it 2-1, but Roanoke trailed entering the first intermission.
The second period started with a Roanoke power play chance clanging off the post, and Pensacola responded by jamming in a puck right at the near post at 5:40 for a Sean Gulka goal a few shifts later. A tip goal by Pensacola’s Joey Sofo gave them a 4-1 lead on another power play tally at 10:09 and spelled the end of the night for Roanoke goalie Austyn Roudebush as backup goaltender Tom Aubrun relieved him. Sofo added another goal with less than 16 seconds left in the period, and the Dawgs trailed 5-1 entering the final frame.
Things got chippy in the third period, as both offenses slowed down. Jansen went coast-to-coast on an unassisted goal at 14:19 during 4-on-4 action to make it 5-2, but the Dawgs couldn’t pull themselves back into the game any more than that. The Ice Flyers pulled off their sixth consecutive win, including three in a row over the Dawgs in the past week.
Roudebush stopped 14-of-18 shots, then Aubrun turned away 10-of-11 in relief for Roanoke. Pensacola’s Riley Morris made 32 saves on 34 shots faced. The Dawgs were 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Ice Flyers went 2-for-7.
Roanoke will stay home on February 4 at 7:05 p.m. EST to face the Pensacola Ice Flyers at Berglund Center. Season tickets and single-game tickets are available by visiting the ‘Tickets’ page on their website or by visiting the Berglund Center box office.