The Reading Royals (10-13-1-1) returned to the Santander Arena on Friday night to start a three-game series against the Worcester Railers (12-11-2-2).
Before the game, the Royals received defensemen Mason Millman and Adam Karashik from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
At 8:35 of the first period, Worcester’s Ryan Verrier made it 1-0 with assists by Ashton Calder and Zach White. Then at 11:55, Worcester’s Riley Piercey extended the Railers lead to 2-0 with assists from Blade Jenkins and Connor Welsh. The Royals had 11 shots on goal but trailed 2-0 after one period of play.
At 6:14 of the second period, Worcester’s Zach White made it 3-0 Railers with an assist by Joey Cipollone. Then at 12:25, Worchester’s Connor Welsh scored a power-play goal for a 4-0 lead with assists by Anthony Repaci and Blade Jenkins.
At 18:28, Worcester’s Anthony Repaci made it 5-0 with assists from Blade Jenkins and Anthony Callin. The Royals had six shots on goal but trailed 5-0. In the third period, the Royals had 11 shots on goal and were shut out by the Worcester Railers 5-0.
The Royals had 28 shots on goal, committed two penalties, went 0 for 4 on the power play, and goaltender Nolan Maier made 22 saves off 27 shots.
The two teams continue their three-game series on Saturday at 7 pm on FloHockey. Purchase Reading Royals tickets today on StubHub and Viagogo.
