(MACON, Ga.) – Macon fell to Roanoke in a close 3-2 game, but lost their top scorer in the effort.
The Mayhem came out flat, allowing Roanoke to put on pressure early. Josh Boyko was able to make a series of big saves keeping the Mayhem in the game until Roanoke’s Travis Broughman found open space in the slot and gave the Rail Yard Dawgs the early lead. The Mayhem turned the tables after a good power play that flipped the momentum in their favor and drew a second power play just 20 seconds after the previous one expired. It did not take long for Conor Witherspoon to tip one past former Mayhem goaltender Brody Claeys on the power play to tie the game up. Macon were the dictators of play for the rest of the period and headed into the intermission with the momentum tied 1-1.
The Mayhem came out firing in the second period with a couple of quick chances, but Noah Finstrom scored 3 minutes into the second period for Roanoke to bring the momentous feeling to a halt. Both teams went through the period trading opportunities and the Mayhem were able to kill off a penalty. A late slashing call on Roanoke’s Joe Widmar sent the Mayhem on the power play with just over two minutes remaining in the period. With a little puck luck, Justin Thompson was able to bounce one in for the equalizer on the power play and send the Mayhem into the intermission tied again with the momentum.
The third started with both teams battling and trading chances. When momentum seemed to be building for the Mayhem, a penalty called on Macon led to a power play for Roanoke. After an aggressive penalty kill rush, Roanoke rushed the puck up the ice in the dying seconds of the power play for Richard Boysen to snipe one top corner a second after the penalty expired. Macon still had 11:33 left to work. With 5 minutes left a scary moment happened that saw Thompson take a hit from CJ Valerian into the boards and had to leave the game on a stretcher. Alex Cohen defended Thompson in a fight against Valerian that led to a Mayhem power play. Unfortunately, the Mayhem were unable to find the back of the net before the horn securing the win for Roanoke, 3-2.
The Mayhem are back at home Sunday to finish the home stand against the Roanoke Rail-Yard Dawgs at 3:00 PM ET for the first Salute to Service night. Guarantee your seat by purchasing tickets at maconmayhem.com.
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