Date Published: 1-17-2023
Photo Credit: Samantha Wismer
The Royals took on the Maine Mariners on a bright and sunny afternoon in Reading on Martin Luther King Day. The Mariners have been on the road since January 6, 2023, and have had four other games since then. The Royals have had six games since January 6, with only one road game. However, they have played five to six games within less than two weeks, and that does make a team tired. While it is part of the job, sometimes it catches up to them before they have a break before their next game.
Fortunately, for the Royals the first period started and ended slowly. Both teams could’ve used more speed and depth, and the shots on net stayed somewhat consistent throughout the first period with Maine outshooting Reading 14-10. Patrick Shea of the Maine Mariners scored the first two goals of the game.
The second period started slow too. You can’t blame these teams for being slow. They’ve
had three games in four days. The Royals did, however, get on the board thanks to Alec
Butcher. His goal was assisted by Mason Millman and Yvan Mongo. It was until then that the Royals
did pick up their pace for the rest of the period. The Mariners still led 2-1 after two, however.
The third period began with the Royals starting to show some increased confidence. They eventually tied the game at two, but that was until Fedor Gordeev took the lead on the power play. However, the Royals had more depth and consistency with different lines this period. Unfortunately, the Royals couldn’t muster the game time goal, as Patrick Shea snagged a hat trick with an empty net goal before the clock ran
out to secure the Mariners 4-2 victory.
towards the end of the game. They just came up a bit short in the end.
Now they have three days to rest before their game on Friday at the Santander Arena
against the Norfolk Admirals at 7pm.
