Today in Worcester hockey history: November 9

1994 vs PEI 7-1 loss
The IceCats allowed five second period goals on their way to a 7-1 blowout loss to Prince Edward Island. Claude Savoie got the Senators on the board at 8:47 of the first, and at 17:43 Ross Wilson would tie it with Jim Nesich getting the assist. But that was all for Worcester as they would allow five goals on 12 shots in the middle frame, three of which came while they were down two skaters.

2001 vs Lowell 5-2 win
The Worcester IceCats used three third period goals to outdistance the Lock Monsters in a 5-2 win. Mark Rycroft got the IceCats on the board at 10:07, with Justin Papineau and Darren Rumble assisting. Former ‘Cats defenseman Jeremiah McCarthy got Lowell even at 12:45 with a power play goal. Jeff Heerema would give the Lock Monsters the lead at 12:48, but Papineau grabbed a power play goal for Worcester at 16:37 to tie it. Jame Pollock and Rycroft had the helpers on the play. In the third period Eric Boguniecki put the ‘Cats in the lead again with a power play goal at 6:45, with Pollock and Jeff Panzer assisting. Pollock then made it 4-2 at 10:18, with Igor Valeev and Dale Clarke picking up points. Eric Nickulas capped the scoring at 19:19 into an empty net, with Boguniecki and Daniel Tkaczuk providing assists. Reinhard Divis only had to make 13 saves for the win.

2002 at Springfield 7-4 win
(ICECATS) Greg Davis, Blake Evans, Christian Backman, Jame Pollock, Jeff Panzer, Steve Bancroft and Justin Papineau all scored for the Worcester IceCats in their 7-4 win over the Springfield Falcons. Bancroft, Davis, Papineau, and Panzer all had assists for two-point games. Evans’ goal was shorthanded, and Davis, Panzer, and Backman had power play goals. Papineau’s was into an empty net. Twelve of the 17 IceCats skaters had points in the contest. Jason Bonsignore had two goals for Springfield. Jason Jaspers and Jeff Taffe also scored for the Falcons. Phil Osaer got the win in net. Zac Bierk started in goal for the Falcons and was relieved by Evgeny Konstantinov.

2007 at San Antonio 5-4 win OT
(WORSHARKS) Worcester Sharks Forward Tom Cavanagh scored a power play goal with :18 seconds left in overtime, his second goal of the game to propel the Sharks to a 5-4 OT win in San Antonio on Friday night. After a scoreless first period, Worcester (6-3-1-0) trailed 1-0 after a power play goal by Rampage Defenseman Brendan Bell at :17 seconds of the second period. It was the 9th time in ten games the Sharks allowed the first goal of the game. Riley Armstrong tied the game at 1-1 after a blast from Craig Valette on a clean face off win by Ashton Rome at 5:20. Worcester took a 2-1 lead after Mike Iggulden scored on a nice setup from Lukas Kaspar at 7:48. The goal was Iggulden’s 7th of the season. Former Worcester Ice Cat Jon DiSalvatore scored on a breakaway at 8:52 to tie the game at 2-2. Graham Mink would score his 4th goal of the season, a power play goal at 17:56 to give the Sharks a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes. San Antonio would tie the game twice more in the third period, sandwiched between was Tom Cavanagh’s 4th goal of the season at 9:31. Cavanagh was not finished as he scored again in OT on the power play after a goal mouth scramble resulted from a shot by Tom Walsh with just 18 seconds left. It was the 3rd power play goal scored by the Sharks in the hockey game. Thomas Greiss was stellar all night as he made 37 saves for his 5th win of the season. Tom Walsh recorded his first three points of the season, including an assist on the OT GWG. The Sharks were 3-3 on the power-play and 2-4 on the penalty kill. Rampage Goaltender Josh Tordjman (6-1-0) was defeated for the first time all season allowing five goals on 28 shots. The Sharks ended San Antonio’s four game winning streak. Notes: Mike Iggulden celebrated his 25th birthday with two points (1-1-2). Ten different Sharks players recorded a point in the victory. After recording zero points in his first eight professional games, Defenseman Derek Joslin has four points in his last two games. Craig Valette was a goal short of the Gordie Howe Hat trick, having recording an assist and a fighting major.

2012 vs Portland 3-1 win
(WORSHARKS) Alex Stalock turned aside 25 out of 26 shots that he faced to pick up his fifth straight win in net in the Sharks (5-4-1-1) exciting 3-1 comeback win against the Portland Pirates (4-4-1-0) on Friday night in front of 2,026 fans at the DCU Center. Rookie forward Freddie Hamilton scored the game-winner for the Sharks, burying his first professional goal of his young career. Veteran forwards Bracken Kearns (PPG) and Jon Matsumoto (EN) also had goals to secure the victory as Worcester improved to 4-1-1-0 on home ice at the DCU Center and 4-0-1-0 in their last five games overall. The Pirates got on the board first at 1:02 of the first period when Andy Miele slipped a pass from the blue line to a wide open Chris Brown (3rd) in front, who snuck a backhander through the pads of Stalock, putting Portland up 1-0 early. There was a lot of chippy play in the first, with Brandon Mashinter (2nd FM) and Mark Louis (1st FM) squaring off, before Jimmy Bonneau (2nd FM) and Joel Rechlicz (1st FM) went toe-to-toe at center ice in a great bout. There were 44 totals penalty minutes in the first period. There wasn’t too much action in the second period. The best chance came when Bonneau tipped a shot from the point that zipped past Portland goalie Chad Johnson and rang the pipe. Portland outshot the Sharks 11-7 in the period. The Sharks tied the game only 46 seconds into the third period on a 5-on-3 power play when Tim Kennedy found Kearns (4th) on the doorstep who tapped it past Johnson for the equalizer. That set the stage for Hamilton (1st) to bury his first professional goal at 8:36 of the third period when he backhanded a shot past Johnson after collecting his own rebound, putting the Sharks up 2-1. Matsumoto (3rd) then sealed the deal, burying an empty net goal at 19:21, giving the Sharks a 3-1 final. The Sharks overall record improves to 5-4-1-1 (12pts in 11gp) and 4-1-1-0 (9pts in 6gp) at the DCU Center this season.

2013 vs Providence 5-2 loss
(WORSHARKS) Bracken Kearns and Eriah Hayes scored for the Worcester Sharks (3-6-0-0, 6pts) but it wasn’t enough in a 5-2 loss to the Providence Bruins (6-4-0-2, 14pts) in front of 5,616 at the DCU Center on Saturday during Autism Awareness Night to benefit the Autism Resource Center of Central Massachusetts. Troy Grosenick made 24 saves in his first professional loss. A slew of penalties and strong goaltending from Bruins rookie goaltender Malcolm Subban contributed to the Sharks loss in their first game against division rival Providence. Both the Sharks and the Bruins played tight defense in the opening period and goaltending was strong on both sides. Bruins starting goaltender Malcolm Subban went 7-for-7, and Troy Grosenick, Worcester’s starting goaltender went 12-for-13. The only goal allowed in the period came at 16:15 when Carter Camper (1st) wristed one high past Grosenick on a 5-on-3 to put Providence up 1-0. The Bruins outshot the Sharks 13-7. A flurry of penalties in the middle frame put the Sharks at a disadvantage throughout the whole period. The first fight of the game broke out early in the second period at 2:44 when Rob Davison (2nd FM) took on Anthony Camara (1st FM) with Mike Moore also getting in on the action, earning him a game misconduct. The Bruins added to their lead at 6:30 when Craig Cunningham (6th) snuck the puck past Grosenick on a feed right in front of the net from Alexander Khokhlachev putting the Bruins up 2-0. A second 5-on-3 opportunity for the Bruins came in the middle period, to the same result as the first. Carter Camper (2nd) netted his second goal of the game at 13:27 with a slap shot from the top of the circle, assisted by Ryan Spooner. Worcester outshot Providence 10-5. Offensive production picked up for the Sharks in the closing period. Worcester got their first goal of the game at 4:16 when Eriah Hayes (2nd) deflected a shot from Taylor Doherty past Subban to make the score 3-1 Providence. Another fight broke out at 5:39 when Tommy Cross (1st FM) and Matt Pelech (2nd FM) went toe-to-toe. Each received a fighting major and Pelech earned an additional penalty for checking to the head. The Bruins scored their first goal of the period at 7:59 when Matt Lindblad (1st) exhibited some stick skills and worked the puck around Grosenick, extending the Providence lead to 4-1. The Sharks managed to convert on the power play at 15:09 when Bracken Kearns (3rd) forced the puck in amidst a scrum in front of the net making the score 4-2. Following this the Sharks were unable to produce offensively despite pulling their goaltender, and Bobby Robins (1st) scored an empty netter at 19:58 to give the Bruins the 5-2 lead as the clock wound down. The Sharks outshot the Bruins 10-9 in the final frame. The Sharks overall record falls to 3-6-0-0, 6pts and 2-4-0-0, 4pts on home ice.

2018 vs Maine 3-2 OTL
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (3-7-1-0, 7pts) dropped their franchise high sixth straight game with a 3-2 overtime loss to the visiting Maine Mariners (4-5-0-1, 9pts) in front of 2,573 fans at the DCU Center on Friday evening. Barry Almeida and Dylan Willick scored for Worcester while Evan Buitenhuis made 34 saves in net as the Railers surrendered 1-0 and 2-1 leads before falling in overtime. Brandon Halverson made 30 saves in net for the Mariners in his first win of the season and Shawn St. Amant (1st) scored just 29 seconds into overtime as the Railers dropped to 0-5-1-0 in their last six games. Barry Almeida (3rd) gave the Railers a 1-0 lead in the first period after a nice rush into the offensive zone on a 3-on-2 and shuffled in his own rebound past Brandon Halverson at 12:52 for the only score of the opening frame as Nick Sorkin and Woody Hudson picked up assists. Shots were 13-9 in favor of Maine as Evan Buitenhuis stood tall in net. Maine would tie the score at 1-1 as Terrence Wallin (3rd) as he deflected home a shot from Ryan Culkin at 6:46 of the second period. After great work behind the offensive net by Austin Block, Dylan Willick (2nd) sent a quick shot from the left circle that found the back of the net at 10:15 to give Worcester the 2-1 lead. Maine would tie the score again on their third power play as Alex Kile (7th) zipped a one-timer from the right circle at 12:27 after a nice feed from Dawson Leedhal. The score was tied 2-2 through 40 minutes as Maine held a 30-21 shot advantage. Neither team would score in the third period, but Worcester had several great chances and had a goal disallowed with under two minutes left due to an apparent high stick. Shots were 11-6 in favor of Worcester in the third frame as the two clubs went to overtime tied 2-2. It did not take long for Maine to win the game at Shawn St. Amant (1st) raced down the left wing, cut on top of the crease and snapped a shot past the glove of Buitenhuis at the 29 second mark for the first overtime winner in Mariners franchise history.

2023 at Newfoundland 5-4 win
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (3-4-1-1, 8pts) took down the Newfoundland Growlers (4-5-1-0, 9pts) on Thursday night by the final score of 5-4 in front of a crowd of 2,693 at Mary Brown’s Centre. The Railers are back at Mary Brown’s Centre again against the Newfoundland Growlers on Friday, November 10th at 5:30 p.m. ET. Worcester opened the scoring with the only goals of the first period. Blade Jenkins (2-2-4) and Connor Welsh (1-0-1) each scored to get Worcester on the board for the second time this season. Grant Cruikshank (1-1-2) cut Worcester’s lead in half in the second, but Jenkins and Brendan Robbins (1-0-1) fought back with two unanswered goals to reopen a multi-goal lead for Worcester. Jackson Berezowski (2-0-2) cut back into Worcester’s lead to end the second with his fourth of the season and opened the third with his fifth to make it a one-goal game. Tate Singleton (1-0-1) tied it with 3:47 left in regulation before Ashton Calder (1-1-2) delivered the game-winner at the 18:13 mark to make it 5-4. Just three minutes into the game, Blade Jenkins (2nd) stood along the far circle and fired one low past the right leg of Dryden McKay in net for Newfoundland to give the Railers the early 1-0 lead. Connor Welsh (1st) followed up with his first goal as a Railer on the power play late in the first to put Worcester ahead 2-0. Newfoundland struck back in the second as Grant Cruikshank (6th) snuck one past Tristan Lennox in net for the Railers and made it a 2-1 game. Worcester responded with two unanswered goals. Quinn Ryan came out of the penalty box and intercepted a Growlers clear attempt, then hit Jenkins (3rd) in stride backdoor to make it 3-1. Brendan Robbins (2nd) received a spinning feed along the far circle from Adam Goodsir, then roofed one past McKay to make it 4-1. Jackson Berezowski (4th) continued his hot start to the season with his ECHL rookie leading 13th point of the season to make it 4-2 at the end of 40. In the third, Berezowski (5th) struck again 8:45 into the frame to cut Worcester’s advantage down to just one. Tate Singleton (4th) followed to complete the comeback for Newfoundland and tie the game at 4-4 with just 3:47 remaining in regulation. As the Railers faced heading to overtime for the third straight game, James Melindy, playing in his season debut for the Growlers, committed a hooking penalty to set Worcester to the man-advantage. Ashton Calder (5th) maintained his point-per-game pace by beating McKay nearside on the power play to put Worcester ahead for good, 5-4. Notes: Three Stars: 3rd Star: Jackson Berezowski (2-0-2, +3, 2 shots), 2nd Star: Blade Jenkins (2-2-4, +2, 2 shots), 1st Star: Ashton Calder (1-1-2, GWG, 6 shots)… Final shots were 35-30 in favor of Worcester… Dryden McKay (3-2-0) made 30 saves on 35 shots for Newfoundland… Tristan Lennox (2-2-1) made 26 saves on 30 shots for Worcester, while Henrik Tikkanen served as the backup… Worcester went 2-for-4 on the power play while Newfoundland went 0-for-2… Andrei Bakanov (DNP), Riley Piercey (DNP), Joey Cipollone (DNP), Jack Quinlivan (DNP) and Christian Krygier (IR) did not dress for Worcester… Ashton Calder led the Railers in shots with 6.

2024 vs Maine 5-1 win
(RAILERS) Anthony Repaci is not taking the stairs on his way to dominating the pro hockey record books here. The Railers captain has hopped on an elevator. Repaci recorded merely the sixth natural hat trick — three consecutive goals in the same period — in Worcester hockey history Saturday night as the Railers beat the Maine Mariners, 5-1. It was the second time a Railers player accomplished the feat. Jordan Smotherman did it on March 19, 2022. John Carter and Bob Lachance did it for the IceCats, Jeremy Langlois and Freddie Hamilton for the Sharks. Repaci’s goals were scored in the third period at 0:33, 14:35 and 16:53. One reason Repaci scores a lot of goals is that he takes a lot of shots. Naturally, most of them don’t go in. Saturday night Repaci batted .750. Four shots on goal, three shots in goal. “I have no idea,” was his response when asked how nights like this happen. “Obviously my linemates (Jordan Kaplan and Jack Randl) made nice plays to me it and it was easy job to put it in on that back post. Sometimes, you go through stretches in the season when the puck doesn’t go in for you but you can’t get frustrated. “As long as you’re getting your chances, the goals will come.” With the three-goal night, Repaci became the Railers career leader in that category. He has had a hat trick of hat tricks — three. That is second on Worcester’s all-time pro list to Fred Knipscheer, who had four for the IceCats all in 1995-95. Repaci is merely the second player in the city’s history with 70 career goals. IceCats forward Marc Brown had 79. Repaci has five goals in eight games to begin the year. “We challenged him at the start of the season,” coach Bob Deraney said, “and asked him if he wanted to be a great player on an average team or does he want to be a great player on a great team? And I think he’s showing that he wants to be a great player on a great team. That’s what great captains do. “He’s been hot. He’s going to the dirty areas, and it’s not easy to go there. He’s being rewarded because he’s going to the tough areas and he’s shooting the puck the way he’s capable. Since he’s been with us he has never shot a puck when he wasn’t trying to score.” Riley Piercey and Randl had the other Railers goals. Kaplan had a breakthrough game with three assists. Connor Welsh continues to establish himself as one of the league’s best defensemen with two assists and a plus-2 rating. He is plus-8 in eight games. Worcester also get excellent goaltending from Michael Bullion, especially early in the game and when the outcome was still in doubt. He stopped 25 of 26 Maine shots and the Railers never trailed. “That’s what great goaltending is,” Deraney said. “We might allow you to tie the game but we’re not gonna let you get ahead.” The first period was scoreless then Piercey made it 1-0 early in the second period. Sebastian Vidmar tied it for Maine at 3:48. Randl put Worcester ahead for good at 7:54. Repaci took care of things in the third period and the Railers had their first home victory of the season. MAKING TRACKS – It was a great game for a great crowd of 5,720. … The Bruins Alumni played the Why Me team in a pre-game match. The Bruins won by, well, a lot. … Oddly, or perhaps not since this is the ECHL, last night was Maine’s first road game of the season. The Mariners were missing two very familiar faces in forward Alex Kile and defenseman Connor Doherty, an original Railer. Both are with Florida this year. … The abbreviated homestand continues with a game at 3:05 Sunday afternoon. Norfolk provides the opposition. … Ryan Verrier, J.D. Dudek, Lincoln Hatten, Anthony Callin, Cole Crowder and newcomer Brendan Rons all did not play. Rookie forward Kolby Johnson made his ECHL debut. Thus, it was a drugstore game — Johnson & Johnson — as the Mariners had Carter Johnson in their lineup. … Former Railer Jimmy Lambert was in the Maine lineup for the first time this season after being sent down by Providence. … Nolan Maier was the Maine goalie. It was his 13th career start versus the Railers, the second-most of any goaltender. Charles Williams made 18 starts against Worcester when he was with Manchester.

2025 vs Maine 4-2 loss
(RAILERS) The Mariners won again Sunday afternoon, 4-2, although it was a close game that the Railers might have taken, or at least tied. Worcester had yet another goal disallowed due to goalie interference, this one deposited by Riley Ginnell at 19:28 of the first period. It would have closed a 2-0 deficit to 2-1 but was waved off. Since the fourth Maine goal was into an empty net, the wave-off was huge. It was also the second in the last two games that call went against the Railers. “Both nights, I think they were wrong,” coach Nick Tuzzlino said. “They decide what they decide but I think it happens a lot to us in this building.” These goalie interference reviews are becoming a plague. There seem to be one or two every game. They take up time and kill the flow. They are like football pass interference calls. If six people look at them you’ll get six different interpretations. “I definitely saw our guy being physical with their defenseman outside the paint,” Tuzzolino said. “There was a fight for ice. That’s bound to happen…I think you can call goalie interference on almost every goal, but it is what it is.” The game marked the Railers debut of former Holy Cross goaltender Thomas Gale, who played two ECHL games for Wheeling last year. Worcester’s goaltending has been inconsistent thus far. Gale seemed to play well enough to earn another start. “He was good,” Tuzzolino said. “I think maybe the first two he might like back. Then in the second period he stops maybe two or three Grade As, at the end of the first he stops a breakaway. Great energy, great attitude, really fought down to the wire.” “He was a fire starter, a spark. Not a knock on our other goalies but they’ve had a lot of mental battles and needed a mental break.” The Railers goals were scored by Drew Callin and Kolby Johnson, playing in just his third game of the season. Lynden McCallum had two for Maine, giving him five for the two games here this weekend. Jacob Perreault and Sebastian Vidmar had the other Maine goals, Vidmar into an empty net. Luke Cavallin made 22 saves for Maine to improve his career record versus Worcester to 11-5-0. Maine scored early and late in the first period. Perrault notched a power play goal at 1:58, blasting a shot home from the left circle on the first shot Gale faced in a Worcester uniform. Maine’s man advantage came about after Railers forward Jesse Nurmi was called for an obvious slashing penalty at 1:50. McCallum scored his fourth goal of the weekend at 17:17. He snapped a shot under the crossbar from the right circle; the Mariners have been very good so far this season against Worcester at putting the puck on the top shelf. The home team closed the gap on a power play goal of its own just 1:48 into the second period. Callin beat Cavallin from between the dots with a quick wrist shot after taking a pass from Ryan Miotto. It was a one-goal game for about six minutes. McCallum went top shelf at 7:46 to re-establish the Mariners’ two-goal lead. It could have been worse for the Railers, though. Maine had a 17-7 edge in shots and Gale made several excellent saves. Johnson scored at 9:35 of the third period, right off a draw in the left circle. The puck found him alone about 15 feet away from Cavallin and he beat him with an instant release. MAKING TRACKS – Nurmi’s goal Saturday night made him the second-youngest goal scorer in Railers history. Nurmi was 20 years, 246 days old. That made him one day older than Andrei Bakanov. He was 20, 245 when he scored on Feb. 7, 2023. … Lineup changes included Johnson in uniform, Tanner Schachle not dressed. … Attendance was 2,481.

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