Worcester Dominates in 4-0 Shutout Win Over Maine

Worcester Railers HC vs. Maine Mariners 

October 12th, 2024 

Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center 

Meeting 2 of 2 vs. Maine this preseason 

Railers are 1-1-0-0 vs. the Mariners this season 

Worcester Dominates in 4-0 Shutout Win Over Maine 

Michael Bullion made 24 saves in his Railers debut. 

Worcester, MA – The Worcester Railers HC (1-1-0-0) beat the Maine Mariners (1-1-0-0) on Saturady night by the final score of 4-0 in front of a crowd of 700 at the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center. The Railers open the regular season next weekend when they take on the Reading Royals at the DCU center on Saturday, October 19^th at 6:05 p.m. 

Worcester jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Jordan Kaplan (1-1-2) who struck at 3:43 and Justin Gill (1-0-1) scoring just a minute later in the first period. Worcester continued their scoring in the second. Connor Welsh (1-0-1) scored at 13:55 to make the score 3-0 Worcester. Worcester finished the scoring off by notching one more in the third. Joey Cipollone (1-0-1) scored the final goal of the night, which made it 4-0 when the final buzzer sounded.  

Worcester wasted no time striking first tonight as Jordan Kaplan (1^st) found the back of the net 3:43 into the first period. He was shortly followed up by Justin Gill (1^st) who got one by Maine’s Ryan Bischel just under a minute after Kaplan got a dish from Matt DeMelis. Worcester had an opportunity to score on the power play following a tripping penalty with just under 5 minutes in the period, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Worcester went into the first intermission with the 2-0 lead. Shots favored the Railers 14-5.  

Worcester’s penalty kill got to work early killing off two penalties. The first on Anthony Repaci 30 seconds into the second followed by Jordan Kaplan at the 12-minute mark. The Railers got their own opportunity on the power play with 6:20 to go in the second and Connor Welsh (1^st) cashed in on passes from Jordan Kaplan and Anthony Callin to make it 3-0 going into the third. Worcester outshot Maine 14-7.  

Worcester wasn’t done yet as Joey Cipollone (1^st) scored on a redirected shot 6:08 into the third. The penalty kill would continue their perfect weekend after shutting down two Maine power plays. The Railers went eight-for-eight on the penalty kill against Maine in the preseason. Cipollone's goal would be the final score of the night, cementing the Railers 4-0 shutout victory.  

Notes: 

Three Stars: 3^rd Star: Joey Cipollone (1-0-1, +1, 1 shot), 2^nd Star: Michael Bullion (24 saves, 0 GA, 1.000 SV%), 1^st Star: Jordan Kaplan (1-1-2, +1, 2 shots)... Final shots were 41-24 in favor of Worcester... Ryan Bischel (0-1-0) made 25 saves on 28 shots while Dante Giannuzzi made 12 saves on 13 shots for the Mariners… Michael Bullion (1-0-0) made 24 saves on 24 shots for Worcester, while Joe Spagnoli served as the backup… Worcester went 1-for-5 on the power play while Maine went 0-for-4… Matthew Kopperud (DNP), Cole Donhauser (DNP), Andrei Bakanov (DNP), JD Dudek (DNP), Riley Piercey (DNP), Griffin Loughran (DNP), Ryan Verrier (DNP), Mason Klee (DNP), Matias Rajaniemi (DNP), John Muse (DNP), did not play for Worcester… Austin Heidemann led the Railers in shots with 5… 

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