SPHL Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs

Dawgs Roar to Life Late in 3-2 OT Win at Pensacola

Published on December 6, 2025 under SPHL (SPHL)
Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs News Release


PENSACOLA, FL. - The Rail Yard Dawgs (9-7-2) mounted a strong comeback to overcome the Pensacola Ice Flyers (12-3-2) on Saturday night, as Roanoke prevailed for a 3-2 overtime win at the Pensacola Bay Center. Joe Widmar's power play goal gave the Dawgs the game-winning tally, Benjamin Lindberg and Gustav Müller added goals, Matt O'Dea had two assists, and Austyn Roudebush made 36 big-time saves in the victory for the Dawgs.

It was the older Lindberg brother who was once again involved on the opening goal for Roanoke for the second straight night. Khristian Acosta and Tim Manning won the puck back for the Dawgs below the Pensacola blue line and worked it out to the left-wing wall for Benjamin Lindberg, who ripped a shot off the back bar of the cage to give the Dawgs a 1-0 advantage at 9:38. Another great Roanoke scoring chance led to a post-whistle scrum that put the Dawgs on the penalty kill, but the PK unit came up big for the visitors to keep the Ice Flyers off the board. Pensacola was credited with a 9-5 shots on goal advantage, but Roanoke led by one after 20 minutes were in the books.

The second period was a tale of three stages - Pensacola outshot Roanoke 7-1 in the first six minutes of the period, the Dawgs then had the next eight unanswered shots on net for a span of eight minutes, then the Ice Flyers had the final eight straight shots on net before the period concluded. Pensacola would tie the game on a shot from the right wing by Cam Gaudette at 3:08 after a hot start to the period, but failed to find paydirt on the team's power play chance that came within the next minute. Roanoke had two power play opportunities during its strongest stretch of play through the middle of the period, but failed to retake the lead. An extra pass by Mike Moran allowed Sam Rhodes to find the go-ahead goal on an easy tap-in for the Ice Flyers at 15:54, and two late penalties by Roanoke would keep the Dawgs shorthanded entering the third period. Pensacola took a 2-1 lead into the locker room at the second intermission.

Roanoke came up with a clutch penalty kill to open the final frame of regulation, then got another power play look at the 3:04 mark when Pensacola was called for hooking. A shot from the center point by Bryce Martin was deflected in by Müller to tie the game at 3:46 to tie the game at 2-all. Roanoke would have a fourth power play chance in the game just shy of the halfway point in the period, but the Ice Flyers successfully killed the penalty to keep the game tied. Both teams had a plethora of chances in the final 20 minutes, with Roanoke outshooting Pensacola 19-14, but overtime was required on this night. A high-sticking call against Pensacola put the Dawgs back on the power play in the overtime frame, and Widmar's one-time blast at 1:45 gave Roanoke the second point against the first-place Ice Flyers.

Rico DiMatteo stopped 32-of-35 shots faced in net for Pensacola. The Dawgs were 2-for-5 on the power play, while the Ice Flyers went 0-for-4 on their chances.

The Rail Yard Dawgs will stay on the road to take on the Huntsville Havoc on Sunday, December 7, at the Von Braun Center at 6:00 P.M. EST. Season ticket packages and group tickets are on sale by contacting the Rail Yard Dawgs' front office. Single game tickets for the season are on sale now online and at Berglund Center box office.

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