February 8, 2018

Fayetteville, NC– Unable to carry the momentum from last weekend’s success, the Fayetteville Marksmen fell to the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs, 5-2, Thursday night at the Crown Coliseum.

Showing no sign of lag from travel, the Rail Yard Dawgs came out and carried the play through the early portion of the contest, taking the early 1-0 lead. Steve Mele took the puck in from the left side, walked in front of Patrick Spano, who committed to the right side and was out of position, as Mele buried the chance.

Just 37-seconds later, the Marksmen earned the equalizer in the form of Brad Drobot’s first tally of the season. Working a two-on-one into the zone, Chris Porter saucered a pass to Drobot who put the blade of the stick on the puck and past Matt Zenzola.

After several quality scoring chances on a man-advantage, the Marksmen surrendered the lead to the Rail Yard Dawgs once more. As the power play expired, Phil Bronner took the puck around the net of Spano, tucking a tight, wrap-around chance between the post and Spano’s skate.

The Marksmen found picked up their play opening the middle frame, and for the second time, they pulled even with the Rail Yard Dawgs. While on the power play, Jamie Hill took the puck off the faceoff and rocketed a shot from the right point. The puck trailed towards the right but deflected off a Rail Yard Dawgs defender and caromed left, beating Zenzola.

Similar to their second goal, the Rail Yard Dawgs gained momentum from a successful penalty kill and used it to gain the lead once more. Colin Murray carried the puck behind the net of Spano, fighting off a flurry of Marksmen defenders, pushed a backhander on net, and found his own rebound in the slot, pushing it through the pads of Spano.

Less than three-minutes later, the Rail Yard Dawgs found their largest lead of the night. Murray, flying down the right wall, dumped a pass back to Eric Witzel, who rifled home a shot to the far post, past the glove of Spano.

The Rail Yard Dawgs carried the momentum for the remainder of the game and iced the contest with an empty-net tally, courtesy of Victor Tiutchenko.

Next Game: Friday, February 9th @ Roanoke

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The Fayetteville Marksmen are owned and operated by Union Pro Hockey Group and play their home games at Crown Coliseum. The Marksmen are a committed community asset, designed to provide premium entertainment to families and individuals in Cumberland County and surrounding areas.