Left the house shortly after 9:00 on Sunday morning for the final day of this endurance test we've all been on recently, the day's activities at the Arena began at 11:30 with the 16th annual Battle Of The Badges. This game began in 2006 as a Reading Police vs Fire matchup, the current format was adopted in 2017 with first-responders from Reading/Berks County meeting their brethren from Allentown/Lehigh Valley. The game last occurred two years previously on March 8, little did we know on that day it would be the last time ANYTHING would happen at the Arena for eighty-four weeks. This game is almost always a spirited affair and this day was no exception, in the closing seconds tempers flared and the game was called at that point. After an opening win in 2017 followed by three straight losses the Reading/Berks squad climbed to within 3-2 all-time in the series with a 10-3 win. At 3:00 the main event faced-off as the Worcester Railers returned for the last of their eight visits. Thomas Ebbing gave the Royals a 1-0 lead just over one minute after the game started, midway through the period the Railers scored their lone goal of the day to tie it 1-1. In the second period Brayden Low and Frank DiChiara upped the lead to 3-1, Ebbing's second score late in the third wrapped up the 4-1 win for goaltender Logan Flodell. The club improves to 37-16-8 overall and 19-8-4 at home, they have a whole FOUR DAYS (!!!!) before they start a three-game road trip on April 1 (and I severely doubt anybody is going to complain). The first four days of the new week (and the last four of the month) were largely uneventful but there was one bit of good news. Results of other games through the week allowed the Royals to officially clinch a playoff berth for the fifteenth time in the club's twenty-year history. The last time we actually played in the postseason was 2018, the club didn't qualify in 2019 and we all know about what happened over the next two years. It was announced that the first two home games would be on April 20 and 22 (the regular season ends on the 16th) regardless of opponent and right now the entire division is still alive. The stretch drive should be very interesting. Take care, thanks for reading..
