SPHL Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs

Dawgs Shut Out Ice Bears 3-0 In Home Finale

Published on April 5, 2024 under SPHL (SPHL)
Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs News Release


ROANOKE, VA. - The Rail Yard Dawgs (32-15-8) completely halted the Knoxville Ice Bears (16-35-4) in their home finale on Friday night, taking a 3-0 shutout victory at Berglund Center. Austyn Roudebush notched a 28-save shutout, while Mac Jansen, Jacob Kelly, and Dominiks Marcinkevics added goals for Roanoke.

Both teams struggled at times to settle in during a scoreless first period. Knoxville had two power play chances while Roanoke had one of its own, but neither team was able to capitalize. Jansen did hit the crossbar once for the Dawgs, who outshot the Ice Bears 12-8 in the opening period, but it was a scoreless game at the first intermission.

The second period saw the physicality pick up, especially from Roanoke. Josh Nenadal laid four or five massive collisions in favor of the Dawgs to help bring up the energy of the contest. Finally, at 16:38, Jansen finished off the centering pass from Tommy Munichiello to open the scoring for the Dawgs. A five-minute major would be assessed to Roanoke's John Macdonald right as the final seconds were rolling on the clock after he lunged to complete a hit on Knoxville's Anthony Cinato, so while Roanoke would lead entering the third period, it faced a massive challenge after the second intermission.

Even though the Ice Bears ripped off six shots on goal to Roanoke's zero early in the period, the Dawgs came up with a clutch major penalty kill with a lot of big saves by Roudebush. The game stayed tight down the stretch, as both defenses continued to clamp down on the respective forward groups. Finally, Kelly would add some insurance when he ripped a shot from the left wing off of the feed by CJ Stubbs at 17:55. Just 34 seconds later, Marcinkevics dipped and ducked his way around Knoxville's defense and goaltender Zane Steeves to tuck home a highlight reel goal to make it a 3-0 game. Roudebush secured his 25th win of the year to break his own single-season record from the 2022-2023 campaign, and the attendance of 6,271 fans secured a second-place finish for regular season attendance for Roanoke across the SPHL.

Steeves saved 27-of-30 shots faced in net for Knoxville. Roanoke went 0-for-1 on the power play, while Knoxville went 0-for-3 on their respective power play chances.

The Rail Yard Dawgs will go on the road on Saturday night, April 6, to take on the Knoxville Ice Bears in the regular season finale. Puck drop is slated for 6:00 P.M. EST at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, and you can watch the game on Flo or listen for free on Mixlr. Single-game playoff tickets will go on sale next week, 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.

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