December 14-16

Friday evening: back at the Arena in downtown Reading for the first time in two weeks. The Royals opened a three-in-three homestand, one of two on our schedule (the other one comes up in March). The Allen Americans visited from suburban Dallas, Texas for the weekend making their first-ever appearances at the Arena, the Americans began in the old Central League in 2009 and joined the ECHL when the CHL folded in 2014. Since the Royals last played at the Arena there was a great deal of roster movement, on this weekend several new players were making their home debuts with the club. In the Friday opener the Royals went up 2-0 on scores from newcomers Joe Houk (five-year pro from Richboro, PA) and Alex Roos (first-year man from the University Of Michigan) but the Americans rallied in the second to tie it 2-2. The Royals responded with goals from Chris McCarthy and Charlie Vasaturo to carry a 4-2 lead into the third. Allen made it a one-goal game early in the period but could get no closer, Brayden Low hit the empty net in the final minutes to nail down a 5-3 Royals win. In game #2 on Saturday night it was the annual Teddy Bear Toss game, Brayden Low sent the bears flying midway through the first but the Americans replied moments later to make it 1-1 at the intermission. Steven Swavely scored six seconds from the opening faceoff in the second period to put the Royals back in front, that 2-1 advantage stood until midway through the third when Nick Luukko lit the lamp to put the Royals up by two. The feisty Americans battled back to within 3-2 but another score from Chris McCarthy put the lid on a 4-2 victory. The series wrapped up on Sunday with a late-afternoon start, the Royal again went up early on a Josh MacDonald score. Allen tied the score and took their first lead of the weekend midway through the second but from there it was all Royals. Adam Schmidt struck for the tying goal late in the period, in the third two goals from Chris McCarthy (the last into an empty net) wrapped around MacDonald's second of the night clinched a 5-2 verdict. Newly-acquired Andrew D'Agostini was the Royals' goaltender of record in all three games, he was added as a free agent from Pensacola of the Southern Professional Hockey League. The Flyers organization has had severe issues with its goaltending depth, between injuries and ineffectiveness at the NHL and AHL levels the Royals' goaltending has been in a constant state of flux. D'Agostini has played in the ECHL previously and Royals head coach Kirk MacDonald was familiar with him, his performance over the weekend made him an instant fan favorite. The weekend sweep improves the Royals to 13-7-6 overall, 5-6-3 at home. The boys are back home for a two-game set with Newfoundland on Friday the 28th. Take care, thanks for reading.