CHEREMETA SHINES IN 4-3 RAILERS WIN

By Bill Ballou

WORCESTER – One of the differences between hockey and figure skating is that the winners are not judged by style points.

The Railers were not big on style points Friday night but scored one more goal than the Adirondack Thunder. Thus, they broke a three-game winless streak with a 4-3 triumph.

The puck spent a lot of time in the Railers zone, Worcester was 0 for 6 on the power play, and it blew a 2-0 lead with a 20-second breakdown in the second period. However, the Railers got fine goaltending from Hugo Ollas, got big games from a couple of new faces, and capitalized on scoring chances to capture two timely points.

Mark Cheremeta, playing his third game for Worcester, was 2-1-3 and named the game’s No. 1 star. Matt Ustaski, in his debut, had a goal as well. Riley Ginnell was the other Railers’ goal scorer. Griffin Luce and Lincoln Hatten both had two assists.

The victory moved Worcester into a dead heat with Reading for fourth place in the Northern Division. Both teams have 40 points in 42 games. Maine has 35 points in 40 games. The Thunder, in a 1-10-1 slump, is 10 points out of fourth with four games in hand.

Friday’s triumph means that even if Adirondack wins each of those four games, it can’t catch Worcester. That is a long way off, though.

While the Thunder won most of the faceoffs, the Railers won the biggest one of the game. Adirondack had pulled goalie Colby Muise and closed the gap to 4-3 with 19 seconds left, then there was a faceoff at the left dot near the Railers net with five seconds to go.

Anthony Callin won it cleanly and the Thunder had no chance at one last shot.

The time of possession issue was not a major concern.

“Two things,” coach Nick Tuzzolino said. “One, obviously, is that we’re playing with a lot of different lineups and have guys getting used to new systems. The other is that our system allows for a lot of perimeter possession.

“If we give something up, give it up perimeter.”

The Railers had a 2-0 lead after the first period. Cheremeta scored on his own rebound at 1:47. Ustaski drilled home a short shot at 17:25. He finished a nice combination passing play from Cheremeta and Matt DeMelis.

The Thunder got goals from Sean Gulka and Josh Filmon 20 second apart early in the second period to make it 2-2. Cheremeta scored from the bottom of the left circle at 10:31 and Ginnell tipped Luce’s shot home at 15:17. Worcester never relinquished that lead.

Ollas made 31 saves and has a .908 saves percentage in a Railers uniform. They are 3-2-1 in his six starts, a .583 winning percentage.

MAKING TRACKS – Matias Rajaniemi came back from Bridgeport. Severi Savijoki, Griffin Loughran, Matthew Boudens and Repaci all did not play. … The Railers were 5-2-3 in January. That is a .650 winning percentage. … Ustaski is the 26th player to score in his debut game for Worcester, second this season. Griffin Loughran did it earlier. … The Railers’ all-time record when one of their players has a multi-goal game is 83-17-9. … Worcester’s next match is another four-pointer. The Railers play in Maine Sunday afternoon. Their next home game is Wednesday versus Atlanta. It will be a homecoming of sorts for Joey Cipollone, who spent his rookie season here last year … Attendance was 4,049 … Ustaski was a Jets draft choice  in 2014. The Railers have employed, through the years, draft choices from 19 different NHL teams. He wore Number 55, the third Railers player with that number this season. Only two players had Number 55 in the team’s previous six seasons. … Great to see longtime Sharks trainer Matt White in the crowd.

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