Railers Complete Western Road Trip Going (4-1-1) With 4-2 Victory over Steelheads
Worcester Railers HC vs. Idaho Steelheads
February 26th, 2022
Idaho Central Arena
Meeting 3 of 3 vs. Idaho this season
Railers are 2-0-1-0 vs. the Steelheads this season
Railers Complete Western Road Trip Going (4-1-1) With 4-2 Victory over Steelheads
Ross Olsson scores his second hat trick of the season
Boise, ID – The Worcester Railers HC (22-20-3-1, 48pts) beat the Idaho Steelheads (29-21-2-1, 61pts) in on Saturday night by the final score of 4-2 in front of a crowd of 5, 189 at Idaho Central Arena. The Railers are back east at Santander Arena in Reading, PA to take on the Reading Royals on Wednesday, March 2nd at 7:10 p.m.
Ross Olsson (3-0-3) recorded his second hat trick of the season by scoring a goal in each period on Saturday night against the Steelheads. Worcester jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the second before Idaho responded with a pair of their own, tying the game at 2-2 heading into the second. It would be Olsson for the third time early in the third to put the Railers ahead for good to make it a 3-2 game. Nolan Vesey (1-0-1) added an insurance marker on the empty net tally to give the game its final score of 4-2. Jimmy Poreda was excellent in net for the Railers, making 35 saves on 37 Idaho shots.
After a game on Friday which saw seventeen total penalties called, it seemed like Saturday night’s game would suffer a similar fate. Worcester’s power play was given an opportunity early in the game as Idaho committed a penalty just 1:07 after the opening puck drop. Worcester didn’t get to exercise the entirety of the power play, as Nolan Vesey committed a tripping penalty with 29 seconds remaining on the man advantage. These were the first two of seven penalties called in the period between both Worcester and Idaho. In one of the brief stints of five-on-five play, Ross Olsson (15th) would break through with a perfectly placed shot to beat Jake Kupsky top-shelf past and give the Railers the game’s first lead, 1-0. Neither team scored the rest of the frame, as the horn sounded with Worcester up 1-0. Shots in the period favored Idaho 11-7.
Six more penalties would be called in the second, as Idaho was finally able to capitalize on the power play. First, it was Ross Olsson (16th) who struck for the second time on the night, drilling a one-timer from Jacob Hayhurst in the high slot right past Kupsky, extending the Worcester advantage to 2-0 just 1:52 into the frame. Idaho responded mid-way through the period as Chase Zieky (12th) in the low slot slapped home a feed from Darren Brady, who supplied the puck from beneath the goal line to make it 2-1. Hardly five minutes later, A.J. White redirected a feed from Colby McAuley out in front to tie the game at two apiece going into the break. Shots in the period favored Idaho 11-9, as the Steelheads outshot Worcester 22-16 through 40.
For the third straight period, Ross Olsson (17th) would open scoring. The Billerica native received a stretch pass which spanned the full length of the ice from Cole Coskey, and beat Kupsky to help Worcester regain the 3-2 lead. Worcester would secure the victory late in the game as Chris Ordoobadi tried to sail a puck into the empty Idaho net with under a minute to go, but missed just wide left. Nolan Vesey (11th) cancelled the icing call by being the first one to it, and then promptly deposited the puck into the back of the net, giving the game its final score of 4-2. Idaho outshot Worcester 15-7 in the third, and outshot the Railers 37-23 for the game.
Notes:
Three Stars: 3rd Star: Chase Zieky (1-0-1, +1, 1 shot), 2nd Star: Jimmy Poreda (35 saves, 2GA, .946 SV%), 1st Star: Ross Olsson (3-0-3, +3, 5 shots)… Final shots were 37-23 in favor of Idaho… Jake Kupsky (13-10-0) made 19 saves on 22 shots for Idaho… Jimmy Poreda (2-3-0) made 35 saves on 37 shots for Worcester, while Colten Ellis served as the backup… Worcester went 0-for-5 on the power play while Idaho went 1-for-6… Will Cullen (DNP), Reece Newkirk (DNP), Connor McCarthy (DNP), John Furgele (IR), Bobby Butler (IR), and Grant Jozefek (IR) did not dress for Worcester… 17 minor penalties were called between the two teams for the second straight game… Ross Olsson led the Railers in shots with 5… The Railers are now 2-0-1-0 all-time vs. the Steelheads and 2-0-1-0 at the Idaho Central Arena against Idaho.
