The Worcester Railers closed out their 2023-2024 preseason schedule Saturday night at the Worcester Ice Center with another match-up against the Maine Mariners, and in front of a standing-room-only crowd estimated at 750 former Quinnipiac University forward Joey Cipollone had two goals and an assist to lead the Railers to a 4-2 victory.
This is how the Railers lined up in the game, although Christian Krygier is listed as #2 here but wore #8 during the game. Zsombor Garat is also listed as #70, game sheet has him in #20.
Worcester had the only goal of the opening twenty minutes when Krygier scored on a blast from the top of the slot at 8:00 on the power play. John Copeland and Blade Jenkins assisted on the play. That goal could have been costly as Railers presumed captain Anthony Repaci went down hard on the play and slowly limped to the bench. Because of a penalty kill soon after it was hard to tell how many shifts Repaci missed, but it wasn’t many.
In the middle frame, Cipollone grabbed his first of the contest when he capitalized on a Mariners turnover in their own zone and skated in for an unassisted shorthanded goal at 3:29. Not that anyone should have been thinking about a shutout in the middle frame, but Ethan Keppen ended all dreams of that with his third goal of the preseason when he beat Worcester netminder Josh Boyko high to the glove side with a wicked wrist shot.
Cipollone gave his team a two-goal cushion again with a tally at 1:54 of the third, with Todd Goehring and Jayson Dobay grabbing helpers on the play. That turned out to be a big goal when Chase Zieky banged home a rebound to once again get Maine within one at 3-2. Keeghan Howdeshell iced the game for Worcester with an empty net goal with 63 seconds remaining in the contest, with Cipollone and Ryan Verrier officially earning points while linesman Conor Foley, who had the puck hit him and bounce right to Howdeshell for the goal, earned just a bruise.
Worcester starts the regular season at the DCU Center Saturday night against, who else, the Adirondack Thunder.
GAME NOTES
Connor O’Brien was the backup goaltender. Scratches will be listed once the regular season starts.
There was one fight in the contest, with Chris Ordoobadi taking on Maine forward Wyllum Deveaux. Because of the terrible sightlines at Worcester Ice Center, almost no one beyond the second row on the elevated seating could see the battle. Let’s just say that the description of the action from those in the first row might have been a bit more emotionally charged than actually factual.
Those sightlines also make it extremely difficult for the scorers to get all the information correct, so while this writer needled them on Twitter a bit they really do need to work twice as hard as usual to get what they can correctly.
We had a pregame conversation with Mariners’ broadcaster Michael Keeley about the technical difficulties at Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn, Maine Friday night, and he said that was the first Maine Mariners game ever to not have been broadcasted on the radio or streamed over the internet. You could actually hear the pain in Keeley’s when he said that. Railers Broadcasting and Media Relations Coordinator Tim Foley clarified the issue a bit, saying it was an internet connection issue with Mixlr. Luckily the city of Auburn, Maine, owners of the building, have a full year to investigate and fix the issue for next season.
As we mentioned yesterday, setting a preseason record is about as meaningful as a lifetime guarantee, but a day after Connor Welsh tied the Railers exhibition mark for the worst rating in a game at minus-3 Joey Cipollone tied the team mark for the best at plus-3. Myles McGurty was plus-3 on October 15, 2021, in a game at The Colisée in Lewiston, ME, oddly enough with Bryce Martin, a player tied for the worst rating with Welsh.
In some Worcester hockey alumna news, former Blades netminder Mariah Fujimagari saw her first action of the ECHL preseason with the Kalamazoo Wings, playing the third period of the K-Wings exhibition tilt with the Toledo Walleye. Fujimagari saved 14 of the 17 shots she faced in the game, including going five for five in overtime. She earned the win when Erik Bradford scored at 6:18 of the extra stanza.
In addition to the change of logo on the front of the Railers’ blue and white jerseys, their orange third jerseys have seen a more significant makeover. Railers COO Mike Myers, who designed the jerseys, says “They really sharp looking”. That shouldn’t be a shock considering Myers has been designing jerseys for Worcester AHL and ECHL teams for years. Railers Booster Club President Rich Lundin had two words to describe them after seeing the jersey earlier this week, simply saying “It pops”. If all goes according to plan, Railers fans will get their first look at the jerseys Tuesday night at the season ticket holder event at “Off The Rails”.
Keith Stephens Katsoulis, one of the photographers seen working the Railers games, put together a nice pregame video, so we’ll share it here for those who missed it.
BOXSCORE
Maine 0 1 1 – 2
Worcester 1 1 2 – 4
1st Period-1, Worcester, Krygier 1 (Copeland, Jenkins), 8:00 (PP). Penalties-Drevitch Mne (slashing), 7:31; Copeland Wor (slashing), 10:56; Deveaux Mne (fighting – major), 17:17; Ordoobadi Wor (fighting – major), 17:17.
2nd Period-2, Worcester, Cipollone 1 3:29 (SH). 3, Maine, Keppen 3 (Chicoine), 16:04. Penalties-Copeland Wor (tripping), 2:29; Mast Mne (roughing), 8:09; Ordoobadi Wor (roughing), 8:09; Goehring Wor (slashing), 10:52; Pennucci Wor (tripping), 16:41.
3rd Period-4, Worcester, Cipollone 2 (Goehring, Dobay), 1:54. 5, Maine, Zieky 1 (Mechura), 14:45. 6, Worcester, Howdeshell 1 (Cipollone, Verrier), 18:57 (EN). Penalties-Christensen Wor (boarding), 8:56; Zieky Mne (slashing), 12:25.
Shots on Goal-Maine 3-5-9-17. Worcester 6-7-8-21.
Power Play Opportunities-Maine 0 / 5; Worcester 1 / 2.
Goalies-Maine, Arvanitis 0-0-0-0 (10 shots-8 saves); Ceci 0-1-0-0 (10 shots-9 saves). Worcester, Boyko 1-0-0-0 (17 shots-15 saves).
A-750
Referees-Michael Zyla (34).
Linesmen-Matthew Heinen (93), Conor Foley (86).
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