Ice Bears Clipped by Dawgs 7-5
March 18, 2023 - SPHL (SPHL)
Knoxville Ice Bears News Release
Knoxville Ice Bears' Razmuz Waxin-Engback battles Roanoke Rail Yard Dawg's Brady Heppner and Brendan Pepe
(Knoxville Ice Bears)
Bailey Conger scored two goals as the Knoxville Ice Bears fell to the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs 7-5 at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum Saturday night.
Jagger Williamson, Carter Cowlthorp and Razmuz Waxin-Engback also scored for the Ice Bears, who had a nine-game home win streak snapped with the loss.
Roanoke got things started when Alex DiCarlo tipped in a Jarrad Vroman shot at 5:26 of the first. Vroman uncorked a shot from the blue line and DiCarlo got a piece of it to redirect the puck past Kristian Stead.
Knoxville had an opportunity to answer a few moments later when Nick DeVito was given a game misconduct for throwing his broken stick at referee Keith Grooms, but the Ice Bears managed only three shots on goal during the five-minute power play.
The Ice Bears ultimately tied the game before the intermission when Bailey Conger scored off the back doorstep at 16:34. Dino Balsamo kept the puck in the zone and slipped a between-the-legs pass to Jagger Williamson in the slot. Williamson found Conger on the left side of the crease. Conger pushed the puck past Tyler Roy for his 19th goal of the year.
Tempers flared throughout the first period and eventually boiled over when Ryan Devine dropped the gloves with Roanoke's Spencer Kennedy. After each skater traded a couple of jabs, Devine landed a pair of heavy lefts, followed by two big rights and an uppercut to knock down Kennedy and sent the Coliseum into a frenzy.
After Nick Ford scored in the second period to give the Dawgs the lead again, Cowlthorp answered a minute later with a goal from the slot to tie the game at two.
Following a collision that resulted in a penalty to Tanner Salsberry, Mac Jansen scored on the power play to put Roanoke in front. Williamson answered two minutes later with a power play goal of his own to make it 3-3 halfway through the second.
Conger redirected a Brett Ouderkirk shot late in the second to give the Ice Bears their only lead of the game at 14:19.
Kennedy scored off the left side of the crease to tie the game again. C.J. Valerian scored right as a Roanoke power play expired to give Roanoke the lead again. Jansen notched his second of the night on another power play to put the Rail Yard Dawgs ahead for good.
Waxin-Engback scored with less than three minutes remaining to give Knoxville a shot at the end, but the Ice Bears couldn't even the score and C.J. Stubbs scored an empty-net goal to seal the win for Roanoke. Stead made 29 saves for Knoxville. Tyler Roy made 18 stops for Roanoke.
Knoxville hits the road with a game at Macon to conclude the weekend. The Rail Yard Dawgs return to Roanoke to host Fayetteville next Friday.
Images from this story
 Knoxville Ice Bears' Razmuz Waxin-Engback battles Roanoke Rail Yard Dawg's Brady Heppner and Brendan Pepe |
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