Dawgs Maul Ice Bears 7-2 for Franchise Record 33rd Win
April 6, 2024 - SPHL (SPHL)
Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs News Release
KNOXVILLE, TN. - The Rail Yard Dawgs (33-15-8) destroyed the Knoxville Ice Bears (16-36-4) in their regular season finale on Saturday night, winning 7-2 at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. CJ Stubbs scored twice, Josh Nenadal had one goal and three assists, Dom Marcinkevics had three assists, and Owen McDade, Billy Roche, Alex DiCarlo, and Brendan Pepe all added goals for Roanoke. The win by Roanoke tonight broke a single-season franchise record that had been previously set last year for wins.
Both teams were slow out of the gate in the first period, with only four combined shots on goal by the two sides in the first half of the period. After the second media timeout, Roanoke collected eight of the game's next 11 shots on net, but were just barely kept off the scoreboard after some wild saves by Knoxville's Kristian Stead. An Ice Bears power play teed up a perfectly executed faceoff play, and former Dawg Anthony Cinato opened the scoring against his former team at 18:08 on the man advantage. Roanoke had a few shorthanded chances and finished the period with a 14-6 advantage in the shots on goal tally, but Knoxville led 1-0 at the first intermission.
Roanoke exploded into the game in the second period. Nenadal followed up a rebound from a shot by Marcinkevics at 2:28 to tie the game at 1-1. McDade was able to tip along a shot from the center point by Stephen Alvo for the go-ahead goal on the power play at 9:46. The Dawgs made it 3-1 at 11:17 when Roche drove to the net and redirected the centering feed from Marcinkevics. DiCarlo took a neutral zone pass from Mac Jansen down the right wing, and his missile gave Roanoke a 4-1 lead at 16:26. Just 15 seconds later, a forced turnover by Brenden Stanko teed up an easy breakaway tally by Stubbs to make it 5-1. Another ex-Dawg, Jonathan Bartuccio-Pereira, snapped home a long-range shot at 17:45 to make it a 5-2 game. Roanoke still led by three entering the final frame, after outshooting Knoxville 17-2 in the middle period.
The Dawgs continued to impose their will on the Ice Bears down the stretch on Saturday. Stubbs would score again when he jammed home a puck via Nenadal at the net front to make it a 6-2 game at 14:12. The cherry on top was a one-timer that screamed off of the stick of Pepe in the game's final minute after Marcinkevics found him from the right-wing corner to the center point at 19:21 to make it 7-2 for the visitors. The win by the Dawgs gave them a 9-0-2 record in the season series against the Ice Bears.
Tyler Roy stopped 14-of-16 shots for Roanoke, while Stead saved 35-of-41 shots faced in net for Knoxville. Both teams went 1-for-5 on the power play.
Roanoke will have to wait until after tonight's results to find out who it will play in the first round of the President's Cup Playoffs next week. Single-game playoff tickets will go on sale on Sunday, April 7th, at 10 A.M. EST, and can be purchased by contacting or visiting the Berglund Center box office. Other season ticket packages and group tickets are on sale now by contacting the Rail Yard Dawgs office. Roanoke's President's Cup Playoffs run is sponsored by Haley Toyota.
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