Saturday night on Penn Street in downtown Reading for the 21st home opener of Royals ECHL hockey (yeah, it should be the 22nd but we all know the story), the Indy Fuel (from the capital of the Hoosier State) were the opponent for a two-game set. As a non-divisional opponent the Fuel are an infrequent visitor, this was their first appearance at the Arena since March of 2019. All of the usual bells and whistles were out in force for the opener but the guys from Indiana ruined the party with a 3-1 decision. First-year pro Yvan Mongo (University Of Ottawa) scored his first pro goal for the Royals, fellow rookie Nolan Maier took the loss in net. Sunday was a busy day that started early with two games of morning hockey in Rothsville, on this day Township won via shootout over Warwick and Hillside beat Ephrata in regulation. We started right on time at 10:30 and were done by 12:20 or so, I immediately hopped into the car and highballed it north on 222. I was out of the parking garage and in the Arena shortly after 1:00, plenty of time to get set up for the 3:00 faceoff. This was the Royals' Halloween game with the club wearing orange/black holiday-themed sweaters. The visiting Fuel took an early 1-0 lead, late in the period RPI product Shane Sellar (who got into three games the Royals in '21-22) scored his first as a pro to tie it 1-1. In the second Indy went back up 2-1 but in the third the Royals rallied back. Early in the period Notre Dame product Adam Karashik (on assignment from the AHL Phantoms) scored his first pro goal to tie the game 2-2. moments later fellow Phantoms assignee Charlie Gerard (a short-term Royal at the beginning of '21-22) lit the lamp to give the Good Guys the lead. Down the stretch Indy pressed for the tying goal but Pat Nagle and the defense corps held the fort for the 3-2 win and a split of the weekend series. The Royals stay home for a back-to-back with our old friends from Wheeling on November 4 and 5. With it all I arrived home at 6:30, nine hours after I had left and I was more than glad to be there. Take care, thanks for reading.
