Worcester Falls 2-1 in Overtime to Reading

Worcester Railers HC vs. Reading Royals 

March 23rd, 2024 

Santander Arena 

Meeting 8 of 9 vs. Reading this season 

Railers are 3-2-2-1 vs. the Royals this season 

Worcester Falls 2-1 in Overtime to Reading 

Austin Heidemann scores his first professional goal 

Reading, PA– The Worcester Railers HC (26-28-5-3, 60pts) lost to the Reading Royals (26-30-5-2, 59pts) on Saturday night by the final score of 2-1 in overtime in front of a crowd of 4,529 at Santander Arena. The Railers wrap up their weekend in Reading on Sunday, March 24th at 3:00pm. 

Worcester’s Austin Heidemann (1-0-1) scored his first professional goal early in the first, as Worcester held the lead for the next 52 minutes of play. The Royals tied the game with four minutes left in regulation with Joe Nardi (1-0-1) crashing the net, as the game headed into overtime. Reading’s Jake Smith (1-0-1) sent a slapshot past Muse with 3:23 left in overtime as the Royals came out on top 2-1 on Saturday night. 

Austin Heidemann (1st) stole the puck in the attacking zone and ripped a wrist shot past the blocker hand of Nolan Maier in net for Reading to grab the game’s first goal. Each team got a power play opportunity int he first, with neither side capitalizing. Worcester would go on to outshoot Reading in the first 10-6. 

It was a scoreless second, as both teams traded chances back in forth in the middle frame. The Royals had the only power play of the second period, while Worcester again stymied their efforts. Worcester was outshot 10-9 in the second. 

In the third, Worcester held onto their lead for most of the period. They kept Reading to just 8 shots in the period. Reading’s Joe Nardi (15th) crashed the net on a pass from the goal line with 3:52 left in regulation and slapped the puck past Muse to tie the game at 1-1. Neither team capitalized across the rest of regulation as the game headed into overtime. 

Worcester controlled for most of the overtime period before they went to the penalty kill from a Ryan Scarfo tripping call. Reading’s Jake Smith (16th) would hammer a one-timer from the goal line past Muse to complete Reading’s comeback and give them the 2-1 win in overtime. 

Notes: 

Three Stars: 3rd Star: Joe Nardi (1-0-1, +1, 2 shots), 2nd Star: Jake Smith (1-0-1, -1, 3 shots), 1st Star: Nolan Maier (27 saves, 1GA, .964 SV%) … Final shots were 28-26 in favor of Worcester... Nolan Maier (15-15-3-2) made 27 saves on 28 shots for Reading… John Muse (13-10-2-1) made 24 saves on 26 shots for Worcester, while Henrik Tikkanen served as the backup… Worcester went 0-for-1 on the power play while Reading went 1-for-5… Riley Piercey (DNP), CJ Regula (DNP), Joey Cipollone (DNP), Ryan Dickinson (IR), Anthony Repaci (IR), Ryan Verrier (IR), Tristan Lennox (IR), and John Copeland (IR) did not dress for Worcester… Mason Klee made his professional debut for the Railers in the loss... Trevor Cosgrove and Jake Pivonka each led the Railers in shots with 4. 

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