KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Knoxville Ice Bears were looking to close out the regular season on a high note Saturday night, but the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs had other ideas, skating out of the Civic Coliseum with a 3-1 win.
The first period was physical and fast-paced, with both teams trading chances. Roanoke broke through late in the period when Tommy Munichiello slipped one past Ice Bears goalie Hunter Virostek at the 16-minute mark to take a 1-0 lead.
Roanoke kept the pressure on in the second, holding Knoxville scoreless while adding another goal with just 33 seconds left in the period.
Knoxville came out with energy in the third. Eric Olson tipped in a shot from Carson Vance to get the Ice Bears on the board, but that was as close as they would get. Roanoke added a third goal to put the game out of reach.
With the regular season wrapped up, the Ice Bears won’t have to wait long for a chance at payback — they’ll meet Roanoke again in the first round of the SPHL playoffs.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Michael King for highlights from the game.
Discover more from Inside The Rink
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
