Saturday night was the middle contest of three games in a row for the Worcester Railers against the Reading Royals at Santander Arena, and after Friday night’s seven goals hopes were high that the Railers’ offensive explosion would continue, but alas, it did not as Worcester would only score once and couldn’t hold that lead for essentially an entire game, eventually losing 2-1 in overtime.
Newcomer Austin Heidemann was the goal scorer for the Railers, and it came early as the Maple Grove, MN native beat Royals netminder Nolan Maier just 3:56 into the game.
And then the gang that couldn’t shoot straight returned as Worcester’s next 25 shots were all turned aside by Maier.
Down at the other end of the ice Railers goaltender John Muse was putting on a clinic of his own, making save after save, some looking very easy and some, well, looking like this…
Deep into the third period the score remained 1-0 until Joseph Nardi tied it with 3:52 remaining when Ashton Calder lost where Nardi was and Jake Pivonka couldn’t get to Nardi in time. The Reading forward was essentially all alone behind Muse and deflected a centering feed by Powell Connor into a wide-open net.
To overtime the teams went, with the Railers desperately needing the bonus point to keep pace with the teams in front of them they’re chasing for the final North Division playoff spot, but despite holding the puck for nearly the entire first three minutes of the extra stanza Worcester managed just a single shot on goal on two attempts.
With just inside four minutes on the clock Ryan Scarfo, who would not be this writer’s choice to be on the ice at that time, turned the puck over at the offensive blueline, and then to make matters worse Scarfo tripped Darren Brady entering the Worcester zone.
It took 24 seconds for Jake Smith to steal away the bonus point the Railers needed when his booming one-timer beat Muse to the stick side.
GAME NOTES
Scratches for the Railers were Joey Cipollone, John Copeland (IR/unknown), Ryan Dickinson (IR/unknown), Christian Krygier (IR/unknown), Tristan Lennox (IR/lower body), Riley Piercey, CJ Regula, Anthony Repaci (IR/upper body). Henrik Tikkanen was the backup goaltender.
Reece Newkirk was once again a scratch for Bridgeport in their game against Lehigh Valley, and Blade Jenkins was scratched in Hartford’s 5-1 loss in Toronto.
Your factoid for Sunday morning: Last night the Kansas City Mavericks tied the ECHL record for road wins in a season at 26. The Worcester Railers win total for the current season? You may have guessed it, 26.
Saturday morning I was asked if I was giving Holy Cross Men’s hockey updates and why I didn’t do that for other local colleges. OK, so I shall. Anna Maria College Women’s hockey team went to the ECHA Conference Semifinals, where they lost to the Rivier University Raiders 1-0 in overtime. Assumption University’s Men’s team won the Northeast-10 Conference Championship with a 3-2 double-overtime victory over Southern New Hampshire University. There is no national championship tournament in NCAA Division II hockey. Assumption’s Women’s hockey team lost in the New England Women’s Hockey Alliance Quarterfinals to Stonehill College 3-1. The Worcester State Men’s hockey lost to the UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs 4-2 in the first round of the MASCAC tournament. The Lancers’ Women’s team completed the three-peat sweep of the ECHA tournament with a 2-1 overtime win over Rivier.
Continuing with some college hockey news, the field for the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s hockey tournament was finalized Saturday night, with Massachusetts’ schools Boston College, Boston University, and UMass-Amherst all making the field. Boston College is the #1 seed in the tournament. The MassMutual Center in Springfield and Amica Mutual Pavilion (FKA Dunkin Donuts Center) in Providence are two of the four regional sites, and the Frozen Four will be held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN, with the championship finals taking place on Saturday, April 13. Thirty-six different Worcester pro hockey alumni have won the championship, including current Railers John Muse (Boston College, 2008 and 2010) and Joey Cipollone (Quinnipiac, 2023). Muse, along with Barry Almeida (Boston College, 2010 and 2012) and Matt Carle (Denver, 2004 and 2005) are the only alum to win it twice.
The three stars of the game were:
1. REA – 73 Nolan Maier
2. REA – 24 Jake Smith
3. REA – 18 Joseph Nardi
The 210Sports Player of the Game was Austin Heidemann.
Even Strength Lines
Bakanov / Callin / Heidemann
Scarfo / Pivonka / Calder
Howdeshell / Quinlivan / Robbins
Gildon / White / X
Cosgrove / Klee
Welsh / Verrier
Garat / Kulakov
Our affiliates last night
NY Islanders 6, Winnipeg 3
Bridgeport 2, Lehigh Valley 1
In the ECHL’s North Division last night
Norfolk 4, Adirondack 1
Trois-Rivières 4, South Carolina 1
Newfoundland 6, Maine 2
Standings
(“Hand” are games in hand from WOR’s point of view)
| TEAM | PTS | PTS % | HAND | vs WOR |
| ADK | 84 | .677 | 0 | 0 |
| NOR | 78 | .619 | 1 | 0 |
| NFL | 64 | .516 | 0 | 3 |
| TR | 62 | .508 | -1 | 3 |
| ME | 61 | .500 | -1 | 3 |
| WOR | 60 | .484 | X | X |
| REA | 59 | .468 | 1 | 1 |
BOX SCORE
Worcester 1 0 0 0 – 1
Reading 0 0 1 1 – 2
1st Period-1, Worcester, Heidemann 1 3:56. Penalties-Heidemann Wor (tripping), 13:38; Bertuzzi Rea (tripping), 17:43.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Welsh Wor (slashing), 8:56.
3rd Period-2, Reading, Nardi 15 (Connor, Bertuzzi), 16:08. Penalties-Bakanov Wor (hooking), 4:55; Cosgrove Wor (cross-checking), 9:30.
1st OT Period-3, Reading, Smith 16 (Mongo, Bertuzzi), 3:37 (PP). Penalties-Scarfo Wor (tripping), 3:14.
Shots on Goal-Worcester 10-9-8-1-28. Reading 6-10-8-2-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Worcester 0 / 1; Reading 1 / 5.
Goalies-Worcester, Muse 13-10-2-1 (26 shots-24 saves). Reading, Maier 15-15-3-2 (28 shots-27 saves).
A-4,529
Referees-Chad Ingalls (15).
Linesmen-Jarrett Burton (91), Sean Perry (42).
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