November 8-10

Saturday night at the Arena in downtown Reading, the Wheeling Nailers were the opponent for the first of four regular-season visits. There are four cities in the ECHL that have played continuously since the Royals' first season in 2001-02, Wheeling and Reading are two of them. For many years the clubs were divisional rivals but that has changed due to realignment, these days the Nailers are part of the league's Western Conference. The Royals lost in Wheeling on Friday night, on this night at the Arena they atoned for that defeat with a spirited victory (an appropriate description since the theme for the night was wizardry and witchcraft based on the characters popularized by author J.K. Rowling). Ralph Cuddemi gave the Royals a 1-0 lead two minutes into the game but two late-period scores put Wheeling up 2-1 at the intermission. In the middle session the teams alternated goals, Matthew Gaudreau tied the game before the Nailers replied to go up 3-2. Three minutes later Gaudreau struck again to make it 3-3 but Wheeling again took the lead, in the late going Cory Mackin lit the lamp to tie it up at 4-4 at the horn. In the third the Royals finally seized control, seven minutes in Cuddemi netted his second of the night to give the Home Team its first lead. As the clock wound inside two minutes Brayden Low gave the club some insurance, his goal put it away as the Royals took the win 6-4. Rookie goaltender Trevor Gorsuch (who played collegiality at Western Michigan in the NCHC) made his season debut and earned the victory. The Royals improve to 7-4-1 overall, 5-1 at the Arena. The boys hit the road for three games before hosting Wheeling again on Saturday the 16th. Take care, thank for reading.