1995 vs Providence 3-2 loss
The IceCats tied the game twice but a Providence goal in the third period handed Worcester a 3-2 defeat. After a first period goal by Alex Nikolic Sean Whyte tied the game for the IceCats the first time at 17:19 of the second period, with assists going to Jim Nesich and Jarrett Deuling. Following a late middle stanza goal by the Jeff Serowik Blair Atcheynum would knot the score again 19 seconds into the third period. Denis Chalifoux and Terry Virtue had the helpers on the power play goal with Jeff Wells sitting in the box. Wells would redeem himself with the game winner at 5:31 of the final period. Evgeni Ryabchikov had 40 saves for the Baby-Bs while Chris Gordon made 33 in the loss.
1997 vs Providence 1-0 loss
The Worcester IceCats and Providence Bruins matched up in a goaltending duel, with the Bruins Ken McRae scoring the only goal of the game in a 1-0 final in front of 12,114 fans at the Centrum. After a scoreless first two periods McRae converted from a bad angle at 11:19 of the third for the game winner. Derek Herlofsky made 39 saves for Providence while Mike Buzak made 21.
1998 vs Providence 6-4 win
The Worcester IceCats and Providence Bruins played some see-saw hockey, but three third period goals from the ‘Cats gave them the 6-4 victory. Mattias Timander got the Baby-Bs on the board with a power play goal at 11:22. Bryce Salvador, from Shayne Toporowski and Stephane Roy, got Worcester back to even at 15:11, but 42 seconds later at 15:53 Shawn Bates gave the P-Bruins the lead back. Just 1:03 into the middle period Toporowski would make it 2-2, with Michal Handzus and Lubos Bartecko getting points on the play. Jamal Mayers would give Worcester their first lead of the game with a tally at 4:46, with Bob Lachance and Terry Virtue getting helpers. But Jean-Yves Roy had the next two goals to give the Baby-Bs their lead back, the first coming at 14:15 of the second period and the other at 1:54 of the third. Bartecko would tie the teams for the fourth time of the contest with a goal at 4:31, with Handzus and Toporowski getting the assists. Handzus would then have the final two goals of the game, the game winner at 9:36 assisted by Bartecko and an insurance goal into an empty net, from Toporowski, at 19:27. Frederic Cassivi had 26 saves for the win.
2000 at Springfield 5-2 loss
(TICKER) Jeremiah McCarthy had a goal and an assist as the Springfield Falcons scored three times in the third period for a 5-2 victory over the Worcester IceCats. McCarthy scored his first game-winner of the season 3:26 into the final session, giving Springfield a 3-1 lead. Eric Houde also picked up a goal and an assist and Robert Esche made 30 saves for the Falcons, who won for the third time in four games. Tyler Rennette assisted on both goals for Worcester, which fell to 1-6-1 in its last eight.
2002 vs Manchester 2-1 loss
The Worcester IceCats allowed two first period goals and never made those up in a 2-1 loss to the Monarchs. Former ‘Cats forward Derek Bekar scored for Manchester at 8:08, and Rich Brennan made it 2-0 on the power play at 15:48. In the third period Jame Pollock would score on the power play, with assists going to mark Rycroft and Jeff Panzer, at 5:18. But that was all the scoring in the game as the IceCats lost 2-1. Reinhard Divis made 29 saves in the game.
2003 at Portland 1-1 tie
(ICECATS) Saturday night in Portland, Maine, the IceCats rallied midway through the third period to register a 1-1 tie with the Portland Pirates. Right winger Jason Dawe helped the IceCats earn a point in the standings when he notched his 17th goal of the season at the 13:37 mark of the third. Johnny Pohl recorded the lone assist with the teams skating four-aside. Dawe registered his ninth point in his last nine games, four goals and five assists: 9(4/5/9). Johnny Pohl also has had the hot hand as of late, registering points in his past four games. The Minnesota native has five goals and three assists in his last four games: 4(5/3/8). The one point allowed the IceCats to clinch the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
2008 at Manchester 4-1 loss
(WORSHARKS) Manchester scored the first three goals of the game and wouldn’t look back as they defeated the Worcester Sharks by a 4-1 final on Saturday evening at the Verizon Wireless Arena. Neither team could get anything going in the first period until AHL Rookie of the Year Teddy Purcell single-handedly gave Manchester the lead with his 24th goal of the season. He held the puck in the neutral zone before spinning in hopes of eluding the Worcester defense. After losing control of the puck, he regathered and fired a low slap shot that beat Sharks goaltender Dimitri Patzold just inside the right post at the 14:38 mark. Matt Moulson and Drew Bagnell were credited with the assists on the play. The score remained the same until 9:22 of the second when Purcell struck again for the 2-0 lead. He took a flick pass from Matt Moulson and unleashed a slap shot on the left wing side which beat Patzold for his second of the game and 25th of the season. Jeff Likens was credited with the other assist on the play. The Sharks’ penalty kill couldn’t hold the league’s top power play at bay, as the Monarchs struck at 12:23 for the 3-0 advantage. David Meckler was near the right wing circle when he blistered a one-timer over Patzold’s shoulder for his 23rd goal of the season. The nifty goal was assisted by Lauri Tukonen and Josh Kidd. With Brad Staubitz in the penalty box for roughing, Worcester found an opportune time for its seventh shorthanded goal of the season. Playing in his second professional game, Steven Zalewski picked up his first point when he assisted on Lukas Kaspar’s 16th goal of the season at 16:09. Kaspar took the pass at the high slot on the right wing side and beat Monarchs netminder Jonathan Bernier top shelf to make it 3-1. Dennis Packard was credited with the other assist on the play. Midway through the third period, the Sharks had their fourth power play chance looking to cut the lead to 3-2. Worcester was unable to convert and Manchester answered with the backbreaker at 10:57. Brady Murray snuck behind the Sharks defense and took a feed from Marc-Andre Cliché. After skating on the left wing side, he backhanded a shot top shelf for his 13th goal of the season and the 4-1 final.
2011 vs Portland 2-1 SOL
(WORSHARKS) The Sharks lost to the Portland Pirates 2-1 in the shootout in the last regular season home game at the DCU Center on Tuesday night. With the point in the shootout loss, the Sharks trail the Connecticut Whale by one point for the final playoff spot with two games to go. T.J. Trevelyan was the only goal scorer for the Sharks while Harri Sateri made 30 saves in the shootout loss. 19-year-old and San Jose Sharks draft selection Taylor Doherty made his professional debut for the Sharks recording two shots on net. Worcester thought they had gotten off to an early first period lead but with the goal light still on behind Jeff Jakaitis, Paul Byron (22nd) snuck one by the Harri Sateri on a rebound strike giving Portland a 1-0 lead just 57 seconds into the game. The Sharks and Pirates were swapping power-play chances but neither team could cash in on the special teams. The Sharks headed to the locker room down 1-0 after one period of play. Former Worcester Shark net-minder, Jeff Jakaitis, played solid for the Pirates in the second period turning away everything the Sharks put on him. Cam Macintyre tried to swing some momentum the Sharks way when he dropped the gloves and took down Dennis McCauley at 9:14. The Sharks went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill in a scoreless middle frame. Total shots after two periods: Worcester 23, Portland 23. The Sharks missed out on another power-play opportunity early in the third period continuing their scoring drought. Worcester came alive at 8:19 when Matt Irwin blasted the puck from the point and T.J. Trevelyan (19th) deflected in the tying goal from the top of the crease. T.J. Trevelyan’s goal extended his goal streak to three games. The Sharks kept the momentum and killed off their 4th penalty of the game late in the third. The game remained tied up 1-1 after 60 minutes of hockey and the Sharks prepared to earn a big second point in the standings in OT. The play in overtime was dominated by the Sharks and at 3:16 they were rewarded their 6th power-play of the game. After a Roy Sommer timeout, the Sharks came out on the 4-on-3 power-play determined to win this game but Jeff Jakaitis refused to surrender and both teams headed to the shootout. Mark Parrish was the only one to score for the Pirates and Jeff Jakaitis stopped all five Worcester shots as Portland outlasted Worcester for the 2-1 win. The Sharks record is now 36-29-4-9 with 85 points.
2014 vs Hershey 3-2 OTL
(WORSHARKS) The Worcester Sharks (34-30-4-2, 74pts) tied the game late in the third period to force overtime but the Hershey Bears (36-25-4-4, 80pts) picked up a 3-2 overtime win before 4,024 fans Saturday evening at the DCU Center on Tommy Wingels You Can Play bobblehead night. With just six games remaining in the regular season, the Sharks are now seven points out from the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, held by the Norfolk Admirals. After a scoreless opening period, the Sharks broke the stalemate first with an early second period marker by Chad Rau (3rd). The Bears responded within the period with two of their own, however, first by Caleb Herbert (2nd) followed by a tally from Chay Genoway (4th) to take the lead. With 34.3 seconds on the clock and an extra skater on the ice, Dan DaSilva (17th) forced overtime with his franchise record breaking 60th career goal. Less than halfway through overtime Casey Wellman (17th) capitalized on a Sharks defensive error and sealed the game with a breakaway goal. The first period made for lots of transition hockey, some odd man rushes on each end and a slated scoreboard as neither team was able to take a lead. The Sharks saw the only power play action of the period, but could not find the back of the net with the extra man, while the Bears made some offensive efforts on the fore-check, but couldn’t muster up a goal. Both tenders played consistently well with Philipp Grubauer pushing aside all 13 of Worcester’s shots and Troy Grosenick clearing away all six Hershey attempts. The middle period resulted in three goals as the Bears took a 2-1 edge over the Sharks after 40 minutes of play. The Sharks lit the lamp first with an early goal at just 1:34 after a long pass was sent from the neutral zone into the left circle of the Sharks offensive end. Rylan Schwartz got a long stick on the puck and batted it across the slot to Chad Rau (3rd), who slipped it five-hole of Grubauer from in front of the net. Hershey answered back at 8:28 when David Kolomatis sent a drive in from the blue line that ricocheted off the boards behind Grosenick out to Caleb Herbert (2nd) on the stick-side post where he buried it to even the score. The Bears took the lead minutes later at 12:22, when Chay Genoway (4th) sniped a shot from just above the left circle that snuck between Grosenick and his right post. Hershey took an edge in the shooting as well, outshooting the Sharks 13-10. After multiple attempts to even the score in the final period of regulation, a much-needed tying goal for the Sharks came with just 34.3 seconds on the clock and an extra skater on the ice. After a face-off win, Dan DaSilva (17th) was found open on the outer edge of the slot, where he ripped a wrister between the near-side post and Grubauer to force extra hockey. Worcester controlled the shots in the final period, outshooting Hershey 12-3. Following the Sharks’ late rally in regulation, the lone shot of overtime by the Hershey Bears decided the game. After neutral zone turnover by Worcester, Dane Byers gained possession and sent pass to Casey Wellman (17th) that split the recovering defense and sent him on a breakaway, in which he faked out Grosenick sending a low shot into the net for the win. The Sharks’ overall record shifts to 34-30-4-2, 74pts and 17-13-1-1, 36pts at home.
2019 at Maine 4-2 loss
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers HC (30-29-7-4, 71pts) had their slim playoff hopes terminated in a 4-2 loss to the host Maine Mariners(36-31-2-1,75pts) in front of 3,244 fans at the Cross Arena on Friday evening. With the loss,the Railers are now officially eliminated from playoff contention in the North Division with two games remaining. Josh Holmstrom and Matt Schmalz (1-1-2) scored for Worcester as Blake Wajtala made 18 saves on 22 shots in net in just his third start this season. Taylor Cammarata scored twice to lead the way offensively for Maine while rookie Francois Brassard made 41 saves in net for his first professional win. With the loss, the Railers have now lost a season high eight straight games (0-6-2-0) and finish the season series 4-4-3-3 vs. the Mariners. The game ended with a nasty hit by Brycen Martin on Railers captain Mike Cornell from behind along the end boards well after the final horn had sounded which resulted in all 31 skaters joining a fray that continued for several moments. Maine would score three powerplay goals in the opening period to grab a 3-0 lead through 20 minutes of play. Taylor Cammarata (21st) struck at 9:57 with a wraparound strike followed by Dillon Fox (16th) at 14:12 to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead. Taylor Cammarata (22nd) buried his second of the night with an easy tap in past Blake Wajtala at 15:14 to put Worcester down by three. Yanick Turcotte was ejected at 12:11 of the period after a boarding major after he hit Josh Couturier with a check on the forecheck behind the Maine net. Couturier would start the second period and play a regular shift the rest of the game. Shots were 11-8 in favor of Maine through 20 minutes of play. The Mariners went ahead 4-0 at 9:59 of the second period after Nick Master (3rd) bustled down the middle and deflected a centering feed by Terrence Wallin into the cage. Worcester would get on the board at 16:44 after a Mike Cornell blast from the point was deflected in front by Josh Holmstrom (13th) and through Maine netminder Francois Brassard. Shots were 14-4 in favor of Worcester in the middle frame but trailed 4-1 after 40 minutes of play. Matt Schmalz (9th) got the Railers within two goals at 13:03 of the third period with a snap shot from 30 feet from the left slot assisted by Tyler Barnes and Connor Doherty. That was as close as the Railers would get and well after the final horn sounded, Brycen Martin clobbered Railers captain Mike Cornell from behind with a wicked cross check into the end wall which started a near bench clearing brawl which was quickly separated by the officials.
2023 vs Maine 4-2 loss
(RAILERS) The Worcester Railers fell to the Maine Mariners by a final of 4-2 on Wednesday night. Despite the loss, Worcester still is in control of its playoff destiny. Not that it will be easy, but it is mathematically possible because the last three Railers games are all against the fifth-place Adirondack Thunder. Worcester remains in fourth place, one point ahead of Adirondack, but the Thunder have six games left to the Railers’ three. However, if Worcester wins those three head-to-head games in regulation it will finish with 76 points. If Adirondack wins those three other games, but loses the trio to the Railers, it will finish with 75 points. There is actually some wiggle room there, too, since Worcester would win the tie-breaker (games won) if the teams deadlock in points. The Railers came out of the tunnel with a tremendous amount of energy and dominated the first period, although it ended at 0-0. Worcester then scored power play goals at 1:02 and 9:10 of the second period and halfway through the game had a 2-0 lead. The Mariners the came back and scored three goals on three shots from 10:16 through 13:01 to take a lead they never relinquished. Maine added another goal late in the third period to create the final score. Nolan Vesey and Anthony Repaci had the Railers goals. Austin Albrecht, Tyler Hinam, Reid Stefanson and Tim Doherty scored for Maine. The goalies were Ken Appleby for Worcester, Michael DiPietro for the Mariners. If the game had been played only by special teams, Worcester would probably have won. The Railers were 2 for 4 on the power play and killed all four of their penalties. Not only did they kill the penalties, they had the better of the scoring chances. Four times while they were on the penalty kill the Railers had odd-man rushes or breakaways that wound up as one-on-ones with DiPietro. Worcester did not get one goal out of those opportunities. In their last seven games the Railers have scored 15 goals on 245 shots. The last two losses they’ve scored on 3 of 70 shots on goal. Vesey scored the first Railers goal as he corraled a rebound of Steve Jandric’s shot to beat DiPietro. The goal extended Vesey’s points streak to four games. Repaci fired home a one-timer from the right dot, set up by Trevor Cosgrove, at 9:10. It was Repaci’s 25th of the season. He joined coach Jordan Smotherman and Tyler Barnes as the only Railers to have reached that plateau. Albrecht broke through at 10:16, Hinam tied it at 11:44 and Stefanson put Maine ahead at 13:01. Doherty’s insurance goal came at 15:28. Adirondack’s games in hand are not gimmes. It plays Friday night at home versus Maine, Sunday at Maine and April 14 at Trois-Rivieres. The Thunder and Railers play here Saturday night, then back to back in Glens Falls the final weekend of the regular season. MAKING TRACKS – Saturday night’s game is the last one of the regular season and is the annual Fan Appreciation Night. There will be prizes and giveaways. The Railers have already surpassed last season’s total attendance and a big crowd could push them over the 4,000 mark in average attendance for the season. … The Railers re-signed rookie forward Nick Fea and he skated a regular shift. Experienced defenseman Ryan Da Silva made his Worcester debut. Equipment manager Todd MacGowan dug deep for Fea’s new number, 3. He is merely the second forward in Worcester hockey history to wear that number. James Desmarais had it for the IceCats in 2000. … The Mariners won the season series, 6-4-0. Maine won four of five at the DCU Center. … Attendance was 2,535
2024 at Maine 6-2 loss
(RAILERS) The Railers are at a point in the season, and a place in the standings, where they have no margin of error. They made too many errors in the first period here Friday night and lost to the Maine Mariners, 6-2. The loss dropped Worcester into fifth place in what is now the six-team North Division with the Newfoundland Growers out of the league. With Newfoundland gone and teams playing an uneven number of games, the North Division standings will be determined by winning percentage. After Friday night’s games, Maine is in third place with 69 points in 66 games (.523), Trois-Rivieres has 66 points in 66 games and is in the final playoff spot at .500. The Lions are idle this weekend as they were scheduled to play Newfoundland. The Railers’ 66 points in 67 games puts them in fifth at .493. Reading is in sixth and essentially out of the playoff picture. Worcester has five games left. It plays two with Maine on Saturday and Sunday at the DCU Center, then three at Trois-Rivieres to close out the regular season on April 12-14. Friday night, Maine scored 75 seconds after the opening faceoff and led the rest of the way. It was 4-1 after one period. Worcester got goals from Trevor Cosgrove and Reece Newkirk. Maine scorers were Xander Lamppa, Gabriel Chicoine, Sebastian Vidmar, Brooklyn Kalmikov, Adam Mechura and old friend Connor Doherty into an empty net. It was Doherty’s first game against the Railers this season. He has missed much of the year with injuries. Henrik Tikkanen stopped 22 of 27 shots in the Worcester net. The loss snapped his six-game winning streak, a career best. Brad Arvanitis, who usually plays well versus the Railers, played well again. He made 28 saves. Lamppa put Maine ahead early as he backhanded a rebound home at 1:15 from the top of the crease. Chicoine scored his 15th of the season at 6:52 to make it 2-0. He beat Tikkanen with a wrist shot from the left circle. Cosgrove struck at 10:45. He snapped a 55-wrist shot past Arvanitis from the right point. The goal snapped a streak of seven unanswered goals against Worcester going back to the second period of Saturday’s Newfoundland game It was Cosgrove’s 10th goal of the season. He is the second Railers defensemann ever with that many in a season. Patrick McNally scored 12 goals in 2017-18. The Mariners continued to press, though, and made it 4-1 before the period was over. Vidmar scored from the top of the crease at 13:09 and Kalmikov connected from in close at 16:58. Newkirk snapped a 35-footer home at 3:29 of the second period to make it a 4-2 game with lots of time left. Neither team used that time to score but Blade Jenkins hit the far post with a wrist shot from the left circle with about 90 seconds left in the period. Instead, the Mariners went on a power play late in period and Mechura converted on a rebound 30 seconds into the third to make it 5-2. MAKING TRACKS – Defenseman Christian Krygier returned from injured reserve and was the lineup. Rookie Michael Gildon was released. Defenseman Mason Klee has been loaned to San Jose of the AHL where he will be coached by former Sharks standout John McCarthy. … Catching up with Joe Spagnoli’s ECHL debut Saturday night — at 40 he is the second oldest player to wear a Worcester uniform. Claude Lemieux was 43 when he skated for the Sharks in 2008. … One-time Sharks captain Ben Guite, now coaching at Bowdoin and a former Mariners coach, was a face in the crowd. … Growlers players on ECHL contracts can be signed by other teams but the market has been a quiet one throughout the league. … Attendance was a lively 4,863.
2025 vs Adirondack 3-2 win
(RAILERS) It can be really hard to project the outcome of a game between a team that has nothing to lose and one that has everything to lose. Such was the case Saturday night in the match here between the Railers and the Adirondack Thunder. Worcester won by a goal, of course, 3-2. Each of the Railers’ last seven victories have been by one goal including a shootout triumph. Adirondack is out of the playoff race and using many new faces. The Railers’ battle for the final playoff spot in the North Division leaves them no margin for error. The math is simple even if the task is not. The Railers have three games left, one with Adirondack Sunday and two at Reading next weekend. If they win them all, they make the playoffs with 80 points. Saturday, the Worcester scorers were Justin Gill, Tanner Schachle and Tyler Kobryn. Ian Pierce and Kaleb Ergang had the Adirondack goals. It was Pierce’s first professional goal. Gill scored in the first period, Schachle in the second and Kobryn in the third. At one point the Railers had a 2-0 lead, then backslid in the second half of the second period. Ergang scored with 10 seconds to go in the period and it was 2-2 heading into the third. Kobryn broke the tie with a shot from between the circles at 14:37. It was his ninth goal in 23 games with Worcester. Kobryn had two in 18 games with Florida this year before being traded to the Railers and 16 in 145 career ECHL games prior to his arrival here. “Any time you get that kind of production out of a player who was kind of a ‘nothing’ trade,” coach Nick Tuzzolino said, “that definitely helps, but everybody has to fit a role and he fits his role with that line. “And when he gets chances he doesn’t miss.” Gill, in contrast, has been a difference maker on offense. He is 7-13-20 in 20 games with Worcester this season and plus-11. The Railers are 12-6-2 when Gill is in the lineup. Schachle’s goal was his first in a Worcester uniform to go along with three assists. The Railers were in control of things until they went on a power play halfway through the second period. The power play was, in a word, inept. Momentum turned in Adirondack’s direction and the Thunder dominated the rest of the period. “It’s not anything they did, it’s something we did,” Tuzzolino said of the power play. “It’s self-inflicted. The biggest problem with our power play right now is that it’s killing momentum. It’s not just that we’re not scoring, it’s killing momentum.” Michael Bullion continued to be a momentum creator in net, though. He stopped 22 of 24 shots and is 7-1 in his last eight starts. Worcester’s playoff push is largely a result of a recent great record at the DCU Center. The Railers did not play well at home during the early part of the season but are 14-3-2 in its last 19 games here. That is good for a .789 winning percentage. Overall, Worcester is 24-13-3 in its last 40 games. The victory was the Railers’ 34th of the season and brought them to 74 points. They will finish above .500 for the first time 2018-19, their second season in the ECHL. Worcester was 32-29-11 for 75 points that year. MAKING TRACKS – The Fan Appreciation crowd was 5,070. The Railers are averaging a nifty 4,465 in their last 19 games at the DCU Center. … The three goal scorers were the three stars. With three games left in the season, it looks like Anthony Callin will be this year’s Stars leader. He has 44 points with Anthony Repaci second with 37 points. … The season series and weekend conclude at 3:05 Sunday afternoon with the two teams playing again.
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