Peoria Falls to Opportunistic Rail Yard Dawgs 4-2
March 31, 2023 - 09:07 pm
ROANOKE, VA – Despite some positive strides and a plethora of chances, the Rivermen were unable to overcome an opportunistic Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs squad in a 4-2 loss to Roanoke at the Berglund Center on Friday night.
Despite a decent start with strong puck movement, the Rail Yard Dawgs struck midway through the period. Peoria battled through, and skated off, a Roanoke power play soon after and soon had a power play of their own toward the end of the period. As the Rivermen entered the zone and set up their attack, Nick Neville spied Alec Hagaman un-covered at the top of the left-wing circle and fed him a quick pass. Hagaman made no mistake on his one-timed shot that found the back of the net with under a minute to play before the intermission. Hagaman’s 20th of the season tied the game up 1-1 heading into the second period.
Roanoke was able to take a quick lead off of a turnover just over five minutes into the period. But once again the Rivermen countered, this time while skating four-on-four. A two-on-one rush saw Alec Baer send a shot toward the net intended to produce a rebound for Hagaman in front. Instead, it deflected in behind the net. Baer, following through, found the puck and directed it toward a crowded net front. In the chaos, Dale Deon charged in and deposited the loose puck into the back of the net to the game 2-2. Despite a dominant couple of shifts by Peoria in the waning minutes, Roanoke found their third lead off of a net-mouth scramble with just 15 seconds remaining in the period to take a 3-2 lead.
The third period saw the Rivermen press hard and had several chances, including one on the power play, but was unable to find the tying goal. Indeed, Roanoke notched the empty netter to secure a 4-2 victory on Friday night.
While the loss frustrates Peoria’s plans to win the league title this weekend, they still remain in the position to end the season as league champions. Saturday will mark the second-to-last road game of the regular season for Peoria. It will take place in Roanoke at 7:05 pm eastern.
