News release: The Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs fell into a two-goal hole late in the first period and were unable to dig themselves out as they were defeated by the Peoria Rivermen, 4-1, Friday night at Owens Center. Roanoke was eliminated from the postseason in the loss.
Peoria struck first just under three minutes into the game when Geoff Fortman’s shot was blocked but found its way to Justin Greenberg on the left wing. Greenberg uncorked a slap shot that sailed through traffic and beat Brad Barone to put the Rivermen on the board. They would add to that lead late in the first when a potential Roanoke breakout was mishandled and the Rivermen walked in with a two-on-one. Ryan Siiro sent a pass to the front of the net that Keegan Bruce slid under Barone’s pads, pushing the Peoria lead to 2-0.
After a scoreless second frame, the Dawgs got on the board in the third. Brian Rowland slid a pass along the blue line to Joe Sova that Sova hammered top shelf past Tyler Parks to make the score 2-1. Roanoke would pressure further but found itself on the penalty kill late in the third. Peoria was able to cash in on that power play chance when Fortman’s slap shot was deflected into the net by Cody Dion.
The Rivermen added one more in the final minute, an empty net goal from Alec Hagaman, and they won the game, 4-1.
Barone took the loss after stopping 27 of the 30 shots he faced. Parks made 30 saves on 31 shots to earn the win in net.
Roanoke was eliminated from the postseason in the loss as the Rivermen took the best-of-three series, two games to none. The Dawgs finished their second season in franchise history with a regular season record of 26-26-4.
