Photo Credit: The Reading Royals
The Reading Royals will miss the Kelly Cup Playoffs for only their second time in the past 14 seasons. They started the weekend off well, but continue to spiral out of control both nights to the Norfolk Admirals.
Jacques Bouquot scored the first goal on Friday night against the admirals, it was a power play goal and that gave them a 1-0 lead in a must win game. The top four teams in the North Division make the playoffs, so the Royals had to sweep the rest of the season to even give themselves a fighting chance at such.
The lead didn’t last long as the Admirals went on to win the first of two games 5-1. This has been the story all season long. The Royals start out well but continue to falter, they just do not know how to keep a lead or finish games. This could be due to the new coaching staff, and the players getting used to his system.
In Saturday’s till, the Royals fared a bit better. They lost 3-2 eventually in overtime, as Yvan Mongo continued his strong season with netting his 16th goal of the year to give the Royals a 2-1 lead. The Royals look to Shane Sellar and Yvan Mongo to get the team going properly.
This is a young Royals team this simply lacks finish. They are learning to play the game, so one could chuck this season up as development. They haven’t gotten those timely saves throughout the season that they were getting a year prior. Nolan Maier and Parker Gahagen have done their best, but it’s been tough to say the least.
Unfortunately, with Reading missing the playoffs. Their season will come to an end this weekend. I know everyone wanted things to end a bit differently, but maybe this will leave a sour taste in the team’s mouth, as they will head to the offseason next weekend.
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