Railers Drop First Game of Road Trip in Reading

Worcester Railers HC vs. Reading Royals

March 22nd, 2022

Santander Arena

Meeting 10 of 12 vs. Reading this season

Railers are 2-6-1-1 vs. the Royals this season

Railers Drop First Game of Road Trip in Reading

Steven Jandric and Max Newton each record their first professional goals.

Reading, PA  – The Worcester Railers HC (27-24-4-2, 60pts) lost to the Reading Royals (35-14-6-2, 78pts) on Tuesday night by the final score of 6-3 in front of a crowd of 2, 347 at Santander Arena. The Railers are back in Reading at Santander Arena on Wednesday, March 22nd to take on the Reading Royals at 7:00 p.m.

It was a back-and-forth game on Tuesday night, as the lead changed hands four times between the Railers and the Royals. First, Steven Jandric (1-0-1) notched his first professional tally midway through the first period. Then, Reading responded with a late goal in the period, followed by another marker midway through the second to take a 2-1 lead. Max Newton (1-0-1) also recorded his first professional goal as he wristed a puck from beneath the net off of a Royal out in front, which then deflected in to tie the game 2-2. Jacob Hayhurst (1-0-1) on the penalty-kill then jumped a pass in the neutral zone and finished on the forehand to give Worcester the 3-2 lead. Reading would respond with four unanswered goals across the rest of the game, as Reading picked up the 6-3 win.

Worcester jumped out to the 1-0 thanks to one of their newest addition’s first professional goal. Steven Jandric (1st) out in front deflected a shot from Cole Coskey from the right wing past Hayden Hawkey on the powerplay, which made it 1-0 Worcester. Reading would respond close to the end of the period. Garrett Cockerill (4th) from the left wing snuck one past Ken Appleby to tie the game with just :26 left on the clock. The game would head into the first intermission tied 1-1. Shots in the period favored Reading 9-7.

Reading would strike first in the second, and grab their first lead of the night. Patrick Bajkov (21) received a centering feed from Brad Morrison on a two-on-one rush down ice, and tapped the puck past Appleby to put Reading ahead 2-1. Max Newton (1st), the Railers other newest addition out of Merrimack found the back of the net after coming out from beneath the net and throwing the puck off of a Royal out in front. The puck would deflect past Hawkey, tying the game 2-2 as Newton recorded his first professional goal. Worcester jumped back out in front after Jacob Hayhurst jumped a pass in the neutral zone on the penalty-kill and streaked down ice, finishing past Hawkey on his forehand to put the Railers up 3-2. Reading tied the game on another late goal, as Trevor Gooch (26th) found a rebound out in front of Appleby and ripped it home to make it a 3-3 game going into the third period. Reading outshot Worcester 16-12 in the frame, and outshot the Railers 25-19 through 40 minutes.

It was all Reading in the third period, as the Royals scored three unanswered goals. Thomas Ebbing (23rd) received a centering feed from Jacob Pritchard and ripped it past Appleby on a one-timer to give Reading their second lead of the night, 4-3. Trevor Gooch (27th) made it 5-3 Reading just fifty-nine seconds later, as he blasted a slapshot past Appleby on a down-ice rush with 12:14 to go in the game. With the Railers down by two and the net empty, Trevor Gooch (28th) wrestled the puck away from Worcester defenseman Matt Sredl and wristed it into the open net, securing the hat trick and the 6-3 victory for Reading. Shots in the third favored Reading 8-6, as the Royals outshot the Railers 33-25 by the game’s end.

Notes:

Three Stars: 3rd Star: Brad Morrison (0-2-2, +1), 2nd Star: Patrick Bajkov (1-1-2, +2, 3 shots), 1st Star: Trevor Gooch(3-1-4, +2, 3 shots)… Final shots were 33-25 in favor of Reading… Hayden Hawkey (9-3-1) made 22 saves on 25 shots for Reading… Ken Appleby (10-10-1) made 27 saves on 32 shots for Worcester, while Colten Ellis served as the backup… Worcester went 0-for-1 on the power play while Reading went 0-for-5… Bobby Butler (DNP), Reece Newkirk (DNP), Ross Olsson (DNP), Blake Christensen (INJ), Liam Coughlin (IR), Felix Bibeau (IR), Chris Ordoobadi (IR), and Grant Jozefek (IR)  did not dress for Worcester… Steven Jandric led the Railers in shots with 4… The Railers are now 18-21-2-1 all-time vs. the Royals and 7-13-1-1 at Santander Arena against Reading.