ROANOKE, Va. – The Rail Yard Dawgs (1-1) caught fire late in regulation against the Quad City Storm (1-1) in Game Two of the first round in the 2024 President’s Cup Playoffs on Friday night, winning 3-2 at Berglund Center. Alex DiCarlo’s game-winning goal came just 31 seconds after Stephen Alvo’s power play blast had tied the game for Roanoke in the final six minutes. Brendan Pepe also had a power play goal, and Austyn Roudebush stopped 28-of-30 shots faced for the Dawgs. The win by Roanoke tied the best-of-three series at 1-1.
Quad City jumped out in the early minutes of the game, outshooting the Dawgs 5-2 in the first two or so minutes. A deflected clearance off of a faceoff in the Roanoke zone allowed Leif Mattson to find Mike Moran, and his backhanded shot opened the scoring 2:22. After the first media timeout, the Dawgs started to settle into the game. Shortly after a penalty kill of their own, the Dawgs would tie the score on the power play. Dom Marcinkevics flicked the puck from the right wing back to the center point, and Pepe’s one-timer at 14:29 tied the score at 1-1.
The Dawgs had an early power play chance in the second period, and Savva Smirnov had a couple of great chances to push Roanoke in front that just didn’t connect. The Storm would find Moran on a breakaway chance down the right wing shortly after getting back to even strength, and despite the fact that Moran’s first two shots were saved, Quad City’s Weiland Parrish baseball swung the third chance into the net for a go-ahead goal at 4:19. Both teams would have an additional power play chance in the second period, but Roanoke would go to the second intermission trailing 2-1.
The intensity was palpable throughout the remainder of regulation, with both goaltenders and defenses coming up clutch to keep the low-scoring game tight. The Dawgs had three power plays in the final frame and Quad City had two, but it was Roanoke’s sixth and final power play that brought the hosts the equalizer. Alvo’s laser from the center point went off the right post and in, sending the home crowd into a frenzy at 14:25. Just 31 seconds later, some immense pressure by Matt O’Dea and Alex DiCarlo would force a turnover behind the Quad City net. DiCarlo gloved down a rebound after a long-range effort by Johnny Macdonald was saved, and he calmly slotted it home to give the Dawgs their first lead of the night at 14:56. The Storm would empty their net, and even had a 6-on-4 power play chance late on, but Roanoke prevailed to avoid elimination and force a Game Three on Saturday night.
Brent Moran saved 24-of-27 shots faced in net for Quad City. Roanoke went 2-for-6 on the power play, while Quad City was 0-for-4 on the power play.
Roanoke will host the Quad City Storm for Game Three of the first round of the President’s Cup Playoffs on Saturday, April 13, at 7:05 P.M. EST at Berglund Center.