By Bill Ballou

WORCESTER – The Railers lost to the Maine Mariners at home on Military Appreciation Night on Friday by a final score of 6-2.

For the third time in the last five games Railers coach Nick Tuzzolino made an in-game goalie change. Starter Thomas Gale allowed four goals in 26:33. He was replaced by William Lavalliere, who made his Railers debut as Parker Gahagen is with Bridgeport and Tristan Lennox was not in uniform.

The two teams directly ahead of Worcester in the North Division standings, Reading and Trois-Rivieres, both lost in shootouts Friday night, so earned one point. The Railers are nine points behind Reading for the fourth and final playoff spot with 14 games left to play, three of them versus Reading.

Lincoln Hatten and Anthony Callin had the Worcester goals.

For Maine, Brooklyn Kalmikov had another killer game with two goals and an assist. Jaxson Bellamy, Antonio Venuto, Zach Jordan and Max Andreev had single goals.

The first five Mariners goals were scored in this order:

Bellamy from the right circle at 15:18 of the first period; Venuto at 18:27 of the first period that changed direction in close, maybe off a Railers skate; Kalmikov at 1:26 and 6:33 of the second period with Gale being relieved by Lavalliere; Hudson at 19:23 of that period, shorthanded.

Hatten snapped the shutout at 3:32 of the third period. He finished off a neat three-pass rush with a one-timer from the right circle. It was his 13th of the season. Matt DeMelis made the pass. MacAuley Carson got the other assist and is 3-4-7 in the last six games.

Callin scored at 7:04, set up by Anthony Repaci. He stole the puck from Cavallin behind the net to set up Callin for his 16th of the season.

Any hopes Worcester had of a miracle comeback were quickly quashed, though, as the Mariners made it 6-2 at 9:40 on Max Andreev’s doorstep goal.

The Railers have been busy with roster adjustments in the last few days. Friday night’s lineup included only 10 players who were in the lineup on opening night and four who played their first game at the DCU Center.

They were Max Ruoho, Max Dukovac, Declan McDonnell and Xavier Jean-Louis.

MAKING TRACKS – The teams have two games left in the regular season, both in Portland. They play again Saturday night and again on April 15 in a game rescheduled from the players strike. ... Lavalliere beat the Railers, 3-2, in overtime at Trois-Rivieres on Feb. 7. He is the first goaltender to play both for and against Worcester in the same season. … Luke Cavallin got the win in net for Maine. He is 13-7-1 lifetime versus the Railers. … Attendance was 5,720 on Military Appreciation Night. That was tied for the fifth-best of the season. Worcester’s uniforms for this year’s event were especially classy.

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