On Thursday night, the Reading Royals (2-1) were at the Cross Insurance Arena for game three against the Maine Mariners (1-2). The Royals fought hard in this game but would lose 5-4. The series is now 2-1 Royals.
Nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds into the first period, the Mariners took a 1-0 lead by Conner Bleackley (1) with assists from Michael Kim and Lewis Zerter-Gossage.
Three minutes and fourteen seconds into the second period, the Royals tied the game 1-1 by Kenny Hausinger (3) with assists from Brayden Low and Dominic Cormier.
Then at 4:32, the Mariners took a 2-1 lead by Mathew Santos (1) with assists from Nick Master and Zach Malatesta. At 6:54, the Royals tied the game 2-2 by Jacob Pritchard (1) with an assist from Trevor Gooch.
At 8:45, the Royals took a 3-2 lead by Brad Morrison (1) with assists from Patrick McNally and Brayden Low. Nevertheless, the Mariners tied the game 3-3 at 11:51 by Cameron Askew (1) with assists from Reid Stefanson and Connor Doherty.
Before the second period ended, the Royals got the lead back 4-3 at 18:19 by Garrett McFadden (1) with assists from Jacob Pritchard and Patrick McNally.
A minute and fourteen seconds into the third period, the Mariners tied the game 4-4 by Reid Stefanson (1) with assists from Cameron Askew and Connor Doherty.
Finally, the Mariners took a 5-4 lead with less than three minutes left by Mathew Santos (2) with assists from Connor Doherty and Pascal Laberge. The Mariners held on to a 5-4 win.
The Royals finished the night with 25 shots, 0/1 on the power-play, and Logan Flodell made 30 of 35 saves.
Game three between the Royals and Mariners is tonight at 7:15 pm. Tickets for the game can be purchased thanks to our friends at StubHub.
