Game Story


Worcester, MA — Playing under the Worcester IceCats banner for a throwback specialty jersey night, the Worcester Railers netted four goals in the third period to secure a victory over the Norfolk Admirals in the building once known as the Worcester Centrum on Saturday night.

In his sixth start of the season, John Muse made 26 saves and secured his fifth win. Kristian Stead, a recent addition to the Admirals, started Saturday night with 20 saves. Anthony Repaci surpassed Barry Almeida on the team’s all-time goals list, reaching a total of 61 goals in a Worcester jersey. The Railers’ other goals also came from Jake Pivonka, Connor Welsh, and Anthony Callin. Norfolk saw goals from Danny Katic and Keegan Iverson. The game drew a crowd of 7,094, considered a sold-out game by the team and marking the highest attendance this season. The Railers sported IceCats throwback jerseys, featuring the usual raffle, mobile app auction, and post-game auction. Notably, Anthony Repaci’s jersey fetched an impressive $4,000, making it the highest amount ever paid for a Worcester hockey jersey.

The Railers seem to rarely play “perfect hockey” and Saturday’s game was no exception. In many recent games, the Railers have allowed early goals and in many of those games, they’ve found ways to come together and stage a comeback. They were down 2-0 after being outplayed for two periods, they came out looking like a different team to start the third. It took just seven minutes into the third period to change the outlook of this game. The Railers were outshot in five of the last six periods, interestingly enough the Railers outshot the Admirals 9-3 with four of those shots producing goals.

The Norfolk Admirals scored twice in a minute and sixteen-second span in the first period. Danny Katic scored on a rebound from Denis Smirnov, scoring on the right side of the net after Muse made the initial pad save. Keegan Iverson scored while 2-on-1 in the Railers zone after Jack Quinlivan, Joey Cipollone, and Ryan Verrier fumbled the puck away trying to get out of the zone. Iverson beat both John Copeland and John Muse, scoring top-shelf on a snipe in between the face-off circles.

Jake Pivonka initiated the comeback at 1:42, securing a power-play goal with just a second remaining, breaking Kristian Stead’s hopes of maintaining a shutout. Anthony Repaci swiftly scored during another power play at the 4-minute mark, delivering a precise wrist shot from the left circle. Connor Welsh found the net at 6:49, despite the dislodged net. Stead, sliding towards the left side, inadvertently kicked it off the pegs, but Welsh’s goal stood after a video review. Anthony Callin sealed the victory with an empty-net goal, leaving only 32 seconds on the clock. All three of Norfolk’s shots in the third period occurred in the last three minutes.

The three stars of the game were:

  1. Anthony Repaci (Worcester) – 1 goal
  2. Connor Welsh (Worcester) – 1 goal, 1 assist
  3. Jake Pivonka (Worcester) – 1 goal

After Saturday’s game, the Railers now hold second place in the North Division with a point percentage of 0.544. The Trois-Rivieres Lions secured a 5-2 win against the Atlanta Gladiators in Quebec earlier that night. Also up north, the Adirondack Thunder came up with a 5-4 win over the Newfoundland Growlers. Despite being behind 3-1, the Maine Mariners staged a comeback and defeated the Reading Royals with a final score of 6-4. On Sunday, the Newfoundland Growlers and Adirondack Thunder will face off in the only other divisional battle.

The 3-in-3 weekend against Norfolk concludes with a 3:05 p.m. puck drop at the DCU Center.

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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 T
2 0 0 2
0 0 4 4
Shots 1 2 3 T
11 14 3 28
6 9 9 24
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 13:50 – 1st D. Katic (6) D. Smirnov, A. McLean
2 – 0 15:06 – 1st K. Iverson (5)
2 – 1 1:42 – 3rd J. Pivonka (9) R. Verrier, A. Calder
2 – 2 4:00 – 3rd A. Repaci (11) A. Callin, C. Welsh PP
2 – 3 6:49 – 3rd C. Welsh (4)
2 – 4 19:27 – 3rd A. Callin (6) EN

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 31 K. Stead 0 0 0 0 0
G 35 T. Milic 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 D. Louis-Jean 0 0 +1 0 0
D 4 C. Musser 0 0 -2 1 2
D 5 S. Kubicek 0 0 0 2 2
LW 8 D. Smirnov 0 1 +1 1 0
F 10 M. Liwiski 0 0 -2 0 2
LW 12 D. Katic 1 0 +1 3 0
RW 13 K. Iverson 1 0 0 1 2
D 14 C. Fedorek 0 0 0 3 0
LW 15 M. Roy 0 0 -1 2 0
C 16 K. Jameson 0 0 -2 3 0
F 17 A. Miller 0 0 0 3 0
D 18 A. McLean 0 1 -1 2 0
D 20 O. Norton 0 0 0 0 0
LW 22 S. Timofeyev 0 0 0 1 0
D 23 J. McDougall 0 0 -1 0 0
F 25 B. Osmundson 0 0 -1 4 0
F 94 B. Fleurent 0 0 +1 2 0
Team:
Totals: 2 2 -6 28 8
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
31 K. Stead (L) – 23 20 3 –
Empty Net – 1 1 –
Totals: – 24 20 4 –
# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 35 J. Boyko 0 0 0 0 0
G 40 J. Muse 0 0 0 0 0
D 3 R. Verrier 0 1 +1 0 0
F 11 A. Bakanov 0 0 -1 3 0
F 12 J. Cipollone 0 0 0 0 0
F 13 J. Pivonka 1 0 +2 2 0
F 15 B. Robbins 0 0 0 0 0
F 16 A. Calder 0 1 +1 1 0
F 17 K. Howdeshell 0 0 0 1 0
F 21 B. Bowen 0 0 0 2 2
F 22 D. Kuefler 0 0 +1 0 0
F 24 J. Quinlivan 0 0 0 0 4
D 26 C. Welsh 1 1 +1 1 0
D 27 J. Copeland 0 0 -1 1 2
F 29 R. Piercey 0 0 -1 2 0
F 44 A. Callin 1 1 +1 4 0
D 70 Z. Garat 0 0 0 1 0
F 81 A. Repaci 1 0 +1 5 0
D 88 A. Kulakov 0 0 0 1 0
Team:
Totals: 4 4 5 24 8
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
40 J. Muse (W) – 28 26 2 –
Totals: – 28 26 2 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
5:47 – 1st M. Liwiski 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
16:49 – 1st B. Bowen 2 Interference – minor (56.2)
10:50 – 2nd J. Copeland 2 Interference – minor (56.2)
19:41 – 2nd C. Musser 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
2:32 – 3rd S. Kubicek 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
7:20 – 3rd K. Iverson 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
7:20 – 3rd J. Quinlivan 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
7:20 – 3rd J. Quinlivan 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)


Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Christian Krygier, Ryan Dickinson, Todd Goehring, Tristan Lennox, and Zach White
  • Norfolk Scratches: Justin Robidas, and Matt Ustaski.
  • Blade Jenkins signed a PTO with the Hartford Wolf Pack earlier in the day on Saturday. It is the first recall this season, having been assiged to the AHL and ECHL under his entry level contract with the New York Islanders. With Jenkins missing Saturday’s game, there will be no iron man on the Railers roster this season. Jenkins leads all non-Islander contracted players in points with 28 (9-19-28).
  • With Jenkins out of the line-up Brendan Robbins wore the alternate captain letter. It was the first time any player other than Blade Jenkins or Jake Schultz wore the letter this season.
  • Quinn Ryan had his suspsension lifted by the Maine Mariners on Saturday, and was released after they claimed him earlier in the week.
  • The live auction results for the IceCats night (auctioned to benefit the Railers Foundation) was:
    • Scratch #1 – $1325
    • John Muse #40 – $1050
    • Ashton Calder #16 – $675
    • Anthony Repaci #81 w/ C – $4000
  • Following Saturday Night’s game, the Railers had the following streaks and droughts:
    • Keeghan Howdeshell is without a point in his last eight games.
    • John Copeland is without a point in his last six games.
    • Anthony Callin extended his point streak to four games. (2-3-5)




Notable Tweets as the Game Happened

Highlights


IceCats Lines

Admirals Lines


John Muse save


John Muse save


Danny Katic goal (1-0 Admirals)


Keegan Iverson goal (2-0 Admirals)


Jake Pivonka goal (2-1 Admirals)


Anthony Repaci goal (Tied at 2)


Connor Welsh goal (3-2 IceCats)


Anthony Callin goal (4-2 IceCats)