Game Story

Hugo Ollas made 25 saves in his 22nd appearance for Worcester, while Reading’s Keith Petruzzelli stopped 33 shots to earn his 14th win of the season. Goals for Worcester came from Matias Rajaniemi, Matt Kopperud, and Anthony Callin. For Reading, Matt Brown scored twice, joined by Logan Britt, Sam Sedley, Mason Primeau, Jake Smith, and Tyler Gratton. Worcester’s Matt DeMelis notched three assists, marking his third career multi-point performance.

Much like Friday night, Reading jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Matt Brown opened the scoring just 1:16 into the game on a power play with Anthony Callin in the box for cross-checking. Logan Britt added a second at 17:01 of the first period, burying a rebound off Austin Master’s shot. Sam Sedley made it 3-0 with another power-play goal early in the second period, with the puck deflecting off Ollas and in.

Worcester broke through at 5:24 of the second, courtesy of a goal from Rajaniemi. But Reading responded late in the frame, with Mason Primeau restoring the three-goal cushion at 18:50. The Railers appeared to score at the buzzer to end the second period, but the goal was waved off, leaving the score at 4-1 heading into the third.

Anthony Repaci and Justin Gill both exited the game in the second period. Repaci missed on a hit attempt near the Railers’ bench and did not return, nor did Gill.

In the final period, Worcester saw goals from Riley Piercey and Anthony Callin at 6:17 and 15:25, respectively. Sandwiched in between was Brown’s second of the night at 8:46 during a 2-on-1 rush with Primeau. Kopperud tipped in a pass from Piercey, while Callin scored on the power play, finishing off a rebound from DeMelis. Smith and Gratton put the game out of reach with empty-netters at 16:25 and 17:52.

The contest turned heated late, especially following Reading’s fourth goal. The game saw a total of 114 penalty minutes, including eight misconducts, one game misconduct, and a roughing call—all within the final 2:08 of regulation.

With the 2024-25 season coming to an end, the Railers finish above .500 for the first time since the 2018-19 season but fall short of the playoffs since their inaugural season.

The Three Stars of the Game were:

1. Matt Brown (Reading) – 2 goals, 3 assists
2. Mason Primeau (Reading) – 1 goal, 2 assists
3. Sam Sedley (Reading) – 1 goal, 1 assist

The Wheeling Nailers beat the Trois-Rivieres Lions earlier in the day, 3-1. The Maine Mariners shutout the Adiorndack Thunder 1-0 in Portland. The Norfolk Admirals lost 5-2 to the South Carolina Stingrays at the Norfolk Scope. The ECHL season wraps up on Sunday afternoon, all sixteen playoff spots have been clinched at this point. Maine hosts Adirondack and Trois-Rivieres hosts Wheeling.

The Bridgeport Islanders lost 5-3 to the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday night. The teams had a combined 178 penalty minutes with a couple of fights breaking out in the final minute of the game, resulting in several misconducts and game misconducts. Jack Randl had an assist. The Islanders host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Sunday afternoon and close out their season on the road in Hartford on Friday and in Providence on Saturday.

That’s all she wrote for the 2024-25 season…

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Box Score

Scoring	1	2	3	T
	0	1	2	3
	2	2	3	7

Shots	1	2	3	T
	9	14	13	36
	13	9	10	32

Score	Team	Time	Scored by	Assisted by	Type
0 – 1		1:16 – 1st	M. Brown (18)	M. Primeau, R. Calisti	PP
0 – 2		17:01 – 1st	L. Britt (3)	A. Master, N. Capone
0 – 3		2:25 – 2nd	S. Sedley (7)	M. Miller, M. Brown	PP
1 – 3		5:24 – 2nd	M. Rajaniemi (5)	J. Kaplan, M. DeMelis
1 – 4		18:50 – 2nd	M. Primeau (13)	M. Brown, J. Smith
2 – 4		6:17 – 3rd	M. Kopperud (17)	M. Klee, M. DeMelis
2 – 5		8:46 – 3rd	M. Brown (19)	M. Primeau
3 – 5		15:25 – 3rd	A. Callin (24)	M. DeMelis, M. Kopperud	PP
3 – 6		16:25 – 3rd	J. Smith (16)	M. Brown
3 – 7		17:52 – 3rd	T. Gratton (20)	S. Sedley

Rosters

	#	Player	G	A	+/-	SH	PIM
G	30	H. Ollas	0	0	0	0	0
G	32	M. Bullion	0	0	0	0	0
F	4	R. Mahshie	0	0	-1	3	0
F	7	J. Gill	0	0	0	0	0
D	8	P. Walton	0	0	0	2	0
F	10	J. Kaplan	0	1	+1	2	2
F	13	T. Kobryn	0	0	+1	1	0
D	14	M. Rajaniemi	1	0	+1	1	0
F	17	T. Schachle	0	0	-1	2	0
F	18	M. Kopperud	1	1	-2	6	22
F	19	R. Piercey	0	0	-3	0	10
D	22	G. Luce	0	0	0	1	10
D	24	M. Klee	0	1	-2	4	0
D	26	C. Welsh	0	0	-1	4	2
D	27	C. McDonald	0	0	-3	1	0
F	29	C. Donhauser	0	0	-2	1	10
F	33	L. Hatten	0	0	-1	1	12
F	37	M. DeMelis	0	3	0	0	0
F	44	A. Callin	1	0	-3	6	2
F	81	A. Repaci	0	0	-1	1	0
		Team:					2

	Player	MIN	SH	SVS	GA	SV%
30	H. Ollas (L)	–	32	25	7	–
	Totals:	–	32	25	7	–

	#	Player	G	A	+/-	SH	PIM
G	29	V. Purpura	0	0	0	0	0
G	80	K. Petruzzelli	0	0	0	0	0
D	2	R. Stucker	0	0	+1	0	2
D	4	R. Calisti	0	1	0	2	10
D	6	L. Britt	1	0	+2	1	0
D	9	S. Sedley	1	1	+1	2	0
F	13	C. Cook	0	0	-1	1	14
F	14	N. Capone	0	1	0	0	0
F	16	S. Sellar	0	0	+1	2	0
F	18	R. Leibold	0	0	+1	3	10
F	20	M. Miller	0	1	0	0	0
F	21	A. Master	0	1	0	1	0
D	23	G. Cassaro	0	0	+1	1	0
F	25	M. Primeau	1	2	+3	2	2
D	28	C. Walters	0	0	+1	1	0
F	37	M. Brown	2	3	+2	5	0
F	46	J. Nardi	0	0	0	1	0
F	59	T. Gratton	1	0	+1	1	0
F	71	J. Smith	1	1	+2	8	0
F	91	Y. Mongo	0	0	0	1	4
		Team:

	Player	MIN	SH	SVS	GJ	SV%
80	K. Petruzzelli (W)	–	36	33	3	–
	Totals:	–	36	33	3	–

Penalties

Time	Team	Player	Mins	Infraction
0:47 – 1st		A. Callin	2	Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
4:27 – 1st		Served by T. Kobryn	2	Bench minor – Too many men (74.2)
8:34 – 1st		C. Welsh	2	Roughing – minor (51.2)
8:34 – 1st		C. Cook	4	Double Minor – Roughing
19:05 – 1st		R. Stucker	2	Hooking – minor (55.2)
0:52 – 2nd		J. Kaplan	2	Hooking – minor (55.2)
10:37 – 2nd		M. Kopperud	2	Roughing – minor (51.2)
10:45 – 2nd		Y. Mongo	2	Tripping – minor (57.2)
19:32 – 2nd		Y. Mongo	2	Roughing – minor (51.2)
14:42 – 3rd		M. Primeau	2	Hooking – minor (55.2)
17:52 – 3rd		M. Kopperud	10	Game Misconduct – Other Infraction (23.9)

Notes

• Worcester Scratches: Alec Cicero, Griffin Loughran, JD Dudek, Kabore Dunn, Matt Ustaski, Riley Ginnell, and Ryan Dickinson.
• Reading Scratches: Connor McMenamin, Emile Chouinard, Jacques Bouquot, Mitch Deelstra, Nick Carabin, Patrick Bajkov, Todd Skirving, and Tony Malinowski.
• Following Saturday Night’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
  • Justin Gill snapped his point streak after 7 games
  • Pito Walton is without a point in his last 6 games.
  • Matthew Kopperud snapped his point drought after 3 games.
  • Matt DeMelis snapped his point drought after 6 games.
  • Riley Piercey is without a point in his last 3 games.

Railers Lines

Opponent Lines

On-Ice Officials

Highlights

Notable Tweets as the Game Happened

https://twitter.com/RailersHC/status/1911189052331536399/photo/1
Railers Lines

Royals Lines

Matt Brown goal

Keith Petruzzelli save

Logan Britt goal

Sam Sedley goal

Matias Rajaniemi goal

Mason Primeau goal

Matt Kopperud goal

Matt Brown goal

Anthony Callin goal

Jake Smith goal

Tyler Gratton goal