KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE)- The SPHL regular-season champion Ice Bears’ season has officially come to an end. Top-seeded Knoxville dropped its best-of-three series with the 8th-seeded Roanoke Railyard Dawgs, falling in game three, 3-1.
Roanoke got on the board first with a pair of early goals scored only 1:20 apart in the first period. Jimmy Poreda started in the net but was replaced by Kristian Stead following the two goals allowed. Knoxville cut it to a one-goal game on the power play. Stepan Timofeyev took advantage of the extra-man opportunity at 11:26, scoring his third goal of the playoffs to cut the deficit, to 2-1.
But Roanoke extended their advantage to two goals after Nick Ford beat Stead one-on-one on a breakaway to give the Dawgs a 3-1 lead.
Knoxville outshot Roanoke 10-2 in the third period but couldn’t convert. The Ice Bears dropped the opening series 2-1. Roanoke moves on to the President Cup semifinal to face the Huntsville Havoc.
