March 23-25

Friday night at the Arena in downtown Reading, the Worcester Railers were in town for a two-game series. The Royals lost on Wednesday night in Manchester, on Friday Worcester snapped a 1-1 tie in the third period with three goals (the last into an empty net) to earn a 4-1 win. Chris McCarthy's score midway through the first period was the lone marker for the Royals, Brandon Komm took the loss in net. On Saturday the organization hosted the annual Autism Awareness night, the goal horn was not used and the music on the PA was kept at a lower level. I try to do my part by toning myself down as well although I don't feel I'm especially objectionable to begin with (I've always said that proper voice inflection beats "scarrrrrreeeeeeeemmmming aaaaannnnnnd yelllllllling" any day of the week, there are places where the PA guys utilize that style and it makes my ears bleed). The atmosphere may have been quieter but the fans still had a lot to cheer about on this night as the Royals avenged the Friday loss with a 3-0 win. The game was scoreless until five minutes into the second period when Brian Morgan cashed in on a breakaway, late in the period Mark Bennett found the net to make it 2-0. Early in the third Michael Huntebrinker scored the game's final goal but the action was far from over. In the closing moments a Worcester player took exception to a clean bodycheck and earned a fighting major and game misconduct. Mark Dekanich got the start in goal and picked up his third shutout and the team's seventh (Komm and John Muse have two apiece). The team's mark stands at 35-23-8, 21-10-1 at the Arena. The Manchester Monarchs come in for a two-game set on Wednesday the 28th. Take care, thanks for reading.