(MACON, Ga.) – The Mayhem took down the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs 4-1 at home thanks to a hat trick from Jake Raleigh and a goalie goal from Josh Boyko in his return to the ice.
The Rail Yard Dawgs started the game off scoring halfway through the first period. Tommy Munichiello tipped a Carson Gallagher shot for the opening goal nine minutes into the game. Just about four minutes after, Carson Gallagher got called for a high sticking penalty in which Matteo Ybarra was struck in the face and would leave the game due to injury. While the Mayhem could not score on the power play, Jake Raleigh scored off of a Yaroslav Yevdokimov shot to make it 1-1 going into the first intermission.
Tensions began to rise as a few seconds into the period, Tao Ishizuka was knocked out on a hit by Nick Ford. Once play resumed, a massive brawl broke out in which Andrey Simonchyk received a game misconduct and John MacDonald went to the penalty box for five minutes. Less than seven minutes later, Raleigh scored his second goal of the game to give Macon the lead 2-1. At 16:34, Jarret Kup was called for roughing and Austen Swankler was called for slashing. 38 seconds later, Nicholas Favaro was given a holding penalty putting the Rail Yard Dawgs on a 4-on-3 advantage. They were not able to take advantage as the score remained 2-1 at the end of the second period.
In what might be the most memorable period in Macon Mayhem history, Jake Raleigh scored his third goal of the night to complete the natural hat trick at 14:12. Yaroslav Yevdokimov assisted on the goal which was his second assist of the night. With the score being 3-1, Roanoke pulled Tyler Roy from net. With the empty net, the puck wound up on the stick of Josh Boyko who shot it down ice and slid into the empty net. For the first time in franchise history, a goaltender had scored a goal for the Mayhem. The goal ended the night with a final score of 4-1 in a Macon victory, with Boyko making 46 saves in his return to the ice.
The Mayhem head off to Pensacola to take on the Ice Flyers Saturday February 7th at 8:00pm. They will be back in Macon on Friday, February 21st at 7:00pm for a home ice rematch against the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs for Racing Night. Purchase your tickets at maconmayhem.com
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