FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Marksmen late game heroics earn themselves their first win at home

The opening frame opened with both teams playing dump and chase hockey as they tried getting offensive zone pressure time going to generate chances. The Marksmen outshot the Rail Yard Dawgs 8-6 in the first period despite committing a slashing penalty by Ricky Boysen and Payton Schaly. Jacob Mucitelli was sharp early on, stopping wrist shots from the blueline and shutting down any high danger chance the Rail Yard Dawgs generated on the powerplay. The Marksmen created chances of their own but couldn’t find the back of the net in the first period.

The second period was underway as the Marksmen were killing the leftover powerplay time from the slashing call in the first period. The Marksmen were successful on their kill and started generating momentum from the kill. Shots were coming for the Marksmen as they were able to score the go-ahead goal, after a shot from the blueline kicked off the back wall where Evan Pringle was able to knock it home at 3:20 in the second. After some neutral zone dump-ins by both sides, the intensity and physicality started to ramp up. Ayodele Adeniye took exception for his teammate that was previously injured, mixing it up with Olivier Beaudoin where they both sat for roughing penalties. A small push back from the Rail Yard Dawgs was shut down by goaltender Jacob Mucitelli to keep things 1-0. After a puck along the boards wound up in some feet tensions rose again where Evan Pringle dropped the gloves with Manny Cabral where both got sent off for fighting penalties igniting the crowd.

The final period was underway where immediately the Marksmen were given a powerplay looking to go up 2-0. The Rail Yard Dawgs defense stood tall as the Marksmen created good scoring chances, but nothing came of it. Ayodele Adeniye found himself in the penalty box again, this time for a goalie interference penalty and a fighting call against Manny Cabral. The Rail Yard Dawgs made a great push spending tons of time in the Marksmen zone, creating looks where Zach Jones was able to tie things up off a give and go with teammate Connor Bertamini beating Jacob Mucitelli over his shoulder at 5:33 in the third. More penalties ensued as the Marksmen kept getting powerplay opportunities to try and take over the game but couldn’t cash in on the man advantage. The Rail Yard Dawgs were getting in shot lanes and blocking passes making it difficult for the Marksmen to get set up. The Marksmen committed a delay of game penalty so both teams skated four aside. The Marksmen started to control the puck in the offensive zone, where Austin D’Orazio was able to walk the blue line and create space and wait for Payton Schaly to get open. Payton was able to walk down the near dot where he found himself all alone and picked his spot giving the Marksmen the lead at 15:16 in the third. As the Marksmen looked to close out the game and secure the game Bryan Huggins committed a slashing penalty with just under three minutes to play. The Rail Yard Dawgs used this opportunity to pull their goalie and make it a 6-on-4-man advantage. Jacob Mucitelli stood strong as he was able to muster save after save. Ricky Boysen was able to find the puck in the neutral zone after a small clearing attempt where he was able to outskate the defense and put home the empty net goal against his former team at 19:38 of the third.

The Marksmen host the Huntsville Havoc on Saturday, November 7 at 6 PM for Dia de los Muertos presented by El Cazador Mexican Restaurant. Head to marksmenhockey.com for more information.