Marksmen Entertain School Day Crowd with 6-2 Victory
by Fran Stuchbury
March 16, 2024 - SPHL (SPHL)
Fayetteville Marksmen
A school day crowd watches the Fayetteville Marksmen
(Fayetteville Marksmen, Credit: Fran Stuchbury)
The Southern Professional Hockey League's Fayetteville Marksmen held their second school day game of the season Thursday, coming out victorious with a 6-2 victory over the Roanoke Rail Yard Dogs in front of 8,665 fans, most of them children.
Schools from over ten counties in North Carolina participated, arriving by buses. Children ranged from preschool through eighth grade.
The kids were loud throughout the game, buoyed by team Mascot Marky the Marksmen who was moving around the arena. An oversize SpongeBob SquarePants mascot also had a race on the ice.
In game action, Simon Boyko energized the kids with his first career hat trick, leading a Marksmen offensive barrage which totaled 36 shots on goal compared to the Rail Yard Dogs who only had 23 shot on goals.
Fayetteville jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals by Boyko and Tyler Kobryn, his 12th of the season.
In the second period Roanoke cut it to 2-1 with a score by CJ Stubbs, a team-leading 17th of the season.
The Marksmen added to their lead with the second goal of the game by Boyko, making it 3-1 at the second intermission.
In the third Fayetteville extended its lead to 4-1 on Tyler Barrow's 14th goal of the season. Less than a minute later Boyko completed his hat trick with his 21st goal of the season to make it a 5-1 game.
Boyko, the team's goal-scoring leader, played with the ECHL's Norfolk Admirals and SPHL's Macon Mayhem last season. This season he was a member of the ECHL Rapid City Rush where he played in 19 games.
Tyler Love connected with his first goal with the team to finish out the scoring for the Marksmen.
The Rail Yard Dawgs potted the last goal of the game by Mac Jansen, his 13th of the year.
The Marksmen have already clinched a playoff berth and are playing for positioning the remainder of the SPHL season.
Hear from Marksmen Head Coach Ryan Cruthers on the school day game:
Images from this story
 A school day crowd watches the Fayetteville Marksmen (Fran Stuchbury) |
 A school day crowd watches the Fayetteville Marksmen (Fran Stuchbury) |
 A school day crowd watches the Fayetteville Marksmen (Fran Stuchbury) |
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- Marksmen Entertain School Day Crowd with 6-2 Victory - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
- Marksmen Entertain School Day Crowd with 6-2 Victory - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
- Marksmen Entertain School Day Crowd with 6-2 Victory - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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