By Bill Ballou

WORCESTER – The Railers fell Saturday night with a 5-1 loss to the Reading Royals.

Worcester’s lone goal was scored by Drew Callin to make it 3-1 in the third period. There was a little bit of history there, since it had been 1,411 calendar days since his last goal for the Railers on Dec. 8, 2021.

Callin spent almost all of that span in the American Hockey League.

Reading got two goals from Carson Golder. Massimo Rizzo, Brandon Saigeon, and Sawyer Boulton each had one apiece.

Vinnie Purpura got the win in net with 25 saves. Tristan Lennox took the loss and stopped 27 shots.

The game ended in messy fashion with altercations all over the place late as the teams totaled 103 PIM in the third period. The 117 PIM overall were the third most in team history, the most ever at the DCU Center.

Including two video reviews, the game time was 2:51, second most in team history for a regulation game and tied for the longest at the DCU Center.

The Railers seek to regroup next weekend as they play their first three-in-three of the season. All three games are with Maine. Friday night the teams are in Portland, the next two at the DCU Center.

Worcester was outshot by two and outscored by two in the first period.

Rizzo scored from between the circles at 9:12. There was a lot of traffic in front of Lennox and the officials looked at possible goalie interference, but the score was still 1-0 after the review.

The Royals increased their lead to 2-0 at 15:37 on a goal by Saigeon. He got the puck against the far left board, perhaps 40 feet from the net, and sent a wrist shot inside the far post.

In between the goals, Railers forward Lincoln Hatten took on Reading’s Boulton in a quick, intense fight. How time flies. Boulton is the son of Eric Boulton, a legendary battler whose career pro PIM totals were in four figures.

Eric Boulton spent part of 1998-99 with the AHL Kentucky Thoroughblades. On Jan. 29, 1999 in Kentucky he and IceCats forward Reed Low engaged in arguably the best fight in Worcester hockey history, a Rocky vs. Apollo Creed battle.

Coincidentally, or maybe not, Kentucky’s coach that season was Roy Sommer.

Golder finished off the odd-man rush that made it a 3-0 game in the second period. Reading played the break perfectly as Golder converted Cam Cook’s pass with a re-direct that Lennox had no chance on.

Callin scored from in close with Worcester on a power play at 4:51 but Boulton blunted any chance at a comeback by popping home a rebound at 7:40. Reading got a 5 on 3 chance later in the period and took 11 seconds to convert it for the game’s final goal.

MAKING TRACKS – One of the referees was Alex Berard, working his first Railers game ever. … Attendance was 2,593.

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