February 28-March 2

Friday night at the Arena for game #2 with the Maine Mariners, on this night Jake Smith gave the Royals a quick 1-0 lead twenty-eight seconds after the opening faceoff. The Mariners tied the game four minutes later, in the late going Shane Sellar lit the lamp to put the Royals ahead at the intermission. In the second period Smith struck again to make it 3-1. In the third the Mariners pulled to within one but a Mason Primeau empty-netter in the final minute wrapped up a 4-2 victory, Vinnie Purpura was goalie of record. Saturday was a busy day at the Arena and it started early, at 1:00 we were in the house for the nineteenth annual Battle Of The Badges. This game has had four different formats through the years, the current setup features first-responders from the City Of Reading versus their counterparts from the rest of Berks County. The game is always a spirited affair no matter the format, on this day the City defeated the County 6-5 on a goal with forty-five seconds left. The Maine Event (pun intended) was at 7:00 as the Royals hosted the Mariners in the rubber game of the series. After a scoreless first period Matt Brown scored thirty seconds into the second giving the Royals the lead. Maine scored twice to take the lead back, after Shane Sellar pulled the Royals even the Mariners scored again for a 3-2 lead at the intermission. Seven minutes into the third period Ryan Leibold tied the score, three minutes later it was Leibold again on the power play to put the Royals up 4-3. In the final minutes the Mariners went with the extra attacker, with forty seconds left Shane Sellar hit the bullseye on the empty net salting away a big 5-3 win, Gage Alexander was the winning goalie as the Royals pull above .500 for the first time since early November at 23-22-9, 10-8-7 at home. The Royals were 10-17-4 during the 2024 portion of the schedule, since the New Year the club is 13-5-5 and has very quietly fought its way back into contention. The Royals finish the current homestand hosting the Adirondack Thunder on the 5th. Take care, thanks for reading