Game Story

Worcester, MA —Β  The Idaho Steelheads completed a weekend sweep on Sunday afternoon with a 5-3 final score.

The Worcester Railers dropped their fifth straight loss as their offensive struggles continued against a tough Idaho Steelheads team. Nolan Vesey had a pair of goals sandwiched by a goal by Reece Newkirk early in the third period. Jordan Kawaguchi, Zane Franklin, Matt Register, Owen Headrick, and Jade Miller each scored for Idaho. Ken Appleby was the starting goaltender for Worcester, stopping 34 shots Sunday afternoon. Adam Scheel made his second appearance of the weekend against the Railers with 20 saves on another 23-shot night.

For the first time this weekend, the game was scoreless through the opening frame – Idaho outshot Worcester 11-4.

Nolan Vesey opened up scoring on a two-on-one rush down the right side, beating Adam Sheel with a top-shelf goal from outside the right circle. Idaho would even things up with Jordan Kawaguchi entering the Railers zone and scoring off the crossbar at 7:22 in the second period. Idaho took their first lead of the night three minutes later at 10:21, Zane Franklin beat Ken Appleby with a shot over his shoulder with 10 seconds left on their power play to make the game 2-1 after two.

Reece Newkirk scored his tenth goal of the season to kick off the third period at 2:38. Idaho converted on their second power play at 7:46 to regain the lead. Nolan Vesey scored his own rebound to tie the game back up at 3. Owen Headrick regained the Steelhead’s lead at the crease at 11:43 to make the lead 4-3. Ken Appleby was pulled for the extra attacker with 2:13 left in the third period, but ultimately not enough for the Railers to bounce back to force overtime. Jade Miller put the game away at 19:16, scoring on a rebound off the crossbar originally sent by Josh Becker to secure the weekend sweep.

The Worcester Railers were outscored 14-5 against the Idaho Steelheads this weekend.

The three stars of Sunday afternoon’s game were:

  1. Owen Headrick (Idaho) – 1 goal
  2. Nolan Vesey (Worcester) – 2 goals
  3. Jordan Kawaguchi (Idaho) – 1 goal, 1 assist

With their fifth straight loss, the Railers fall to third place in the ECHL. Idaho is now tied with Newfoundland for first in points in the ECHL but holds the advantage in winning percentage with .833 with two games in hand. Around the division, the Norfolk Admirals topped the Adirondack Thunder 3-2 for their first back-to-back wins this season, and the Reading Royals beat the Allen Americans 3-2.

The Newfoundland Growlers return to Worcester to face the Railers on Saturday and Sunday.

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Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 T
0 2 3 5
0 1 2 3
Shots 1 2 3 T
11 18 10 39
4 7 12 23
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
0 – 1 2:13 – 2nd N. Vesey (5) A. Repaci, L. Coughlin
1 – 1 7:22 – 2nd J. Kawaguchi (6) J. Miller
2 – 1 10:21 – 2nd Z. Franklin (6) D. Barteaux, J. Kawaguchi PP
2 – 2 2:38 – 3rd R. Newkirk (10) B. Butler
3 – 2 7:46 – 3rd M. Register (2) A. White PP
3 – 3 8:58 – 3rd N. Vesey (6) A. Repaci, N. Delmas
4 – 3 11:43 – 3rd O. Headrick (7) W. Murphy
5 – 3 19:16 – 3rd J. Miller (7) J. Becker, M. Register EN

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 31 R. Poirier 0 0 0 0 0
G 35 A. Scheel 0 0 0 0 0
D 3 N. Canade 0 0 -1 3 0
F 6 W. Murphy 0 1 +1 0 2
D 7 O. Headrick 1 0 0 7 0
D 13 C. Johnson 0 0 -1 2 0
F 15 R. Dmowski 0 0 0 7 0
F 17 T. Pelton-Byce 0 0 -1 1 0
F 18 A. White 0 1 +1 1 0
F 26 J. Miller 1 1 0 1 0
F 27 J. Becker 0 1 0 1 0
F 29 W. Knierim 0 0 0 2 0
F 34 C. Kehler 0 0 0 7 2
F 37 Z. Franklin 1 0 0 1 0
D 43 M. Register 1 1 +1 2 0
D 47 P. Kudla 0 0 0 1 0
D 51 D. Barteaux 0 1 0 0 0
F 55 Z. Walker 0 0 -1 2 0
F 77 J. Kawaguchi 1 1 +1 1 0
Team:
Totals: 5 7 0 39 4
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
35 A. Scheel (W) – 23 20 3 –
Totals: – 23 20 3 –
# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 35 K. Appleby 0 0 0 0 0
G 39 H. Tikkanen 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 C. McCarthy 0 0 +1 0 0
F 7 L. Coughlin 0 1 +1 1 0
F 8 B. Butler 0 1 0 0 0
D 9 N. Delmas 0 1 -2 2 0
D 10 A. Osmanski 0 0 +1 1 2
F 11 N. Vesey 2 0 +2 5 0
F 12 B. Beaudoin 0 0 -2 1 0
D 15 C. Evers 0 0 0 1 0
F 17 B. Jenkins 0 0 +1 0 0
F 18 B. Christensen 0 0 -3 1 2
F 19 Q. Ryan 0 0 -2 0 0
F 24 J. Quinlivan 0 0 0 0 0
D 25 P. Beaulieu 0 0 -1 1 0
D 26 J. Brandt 0 0 0 2 0
D 27 M. McGurty 0 0 +1 0 0
F 37 R. Newkirk 1 0 +1 4 0
F 81 A. Repaci 0 2 +1 4 0
Team:
Totals: 3 5 -1 23 4
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
35 K. Appleby (L) – 38 34 4 –
Empty Net – 1 1 –
Totals: – 39 34 5 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
19:20 – 1st W. Murphy 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
8:30 – 2nd A. Osmanski 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
12:06 – 2nd C. Kehler 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
7:40 – 3rd B. Christensen 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)

Notes

  • Worcester scratches: Billy Jerry, Jeff Solow, and Zack Bross.
  • Idaho scratches: Cody Haiskanen, Janis Svanenbergs, and Justin Misiak.
  • Austin Osmanski was assigned to Worcester Sunday morning by the Springfield Thunderbirds. Osmanski has played in five games for Springfield this season and last played on November 27 against Bridgeport. He had 12 points in 32 games for Worcester last season. Derek Osik had one assist in his six games with Worcester, his one assist came on October 30 vs Adirondack.
  • The Railers had the following streaks after Sunday afternoon’s game:
    • Anthony Repaci snapped a four-game cold streak. (Last points: 2 assists vs Newfoundland, 12/4)
    • Noah Delmas snapped a six-game cold streak. (Last point: 1 assist vs Norfolk, 11/26)
    • Quinn Ryan snapped a three-game point streak. (1-2-3)
    • Brent Beaudoin, Blake Christensen, and Connor McCarthy are without a point in their last five games.
    • Phil Beaulieau, Jared Brandt, and Myles McGurty are without a point in their last four games.
    • Blade Jenkins and Jack Quinlivan are without a point in their last three games.

Railers Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Reece Newkirk #37 Blade Jenkins #17 Bobby Butler #8 “C”
Forward Line 2 Blake Christensen #18 Brent Beaudoin #12 Quinn Ryan #19
Forward Line 3 Nolan Vesey #11 Liam Coughlin #7 Anthony Repaci #81
Rotated Forwards – Jack Quinlivan #24 –
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Jared Brandt #26 Myles McGurty #27 “A”
Defense Pair 2 Philip Beaulieu #25 Noah Delmas #9
Defense Pair 3 Christian Evers #15 Connor McCarthy #2
Rotated Defensemen – Austin Osmanski #10
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Ken Appleby #35
Backup Goaltender Henrik Tikkanen #39

Steelheads Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Ryan Dmowski #15 Ty Pelton-Byce #17 Colton Kehler #34
Forward Line 2 Jordan Kawaguchi #77 A.J. White #18 Wade Murphy #6
Forward Line 3 Jade Miller #26 Jack Becker #27 Zach Walker #55
Rotated Forwards Willie Knierim #29 – Zane Franklin #37
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Matt Register #43 Nick Canade #3
Defense Pair 2 Casey Johnson #13 Dawson Barteaux #51
Defense Pair 3 Patrick Kudla #47 Owen Headrick #7
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Adam Scheel #35
Backup Goaltender RΓ©mi Poirier #31

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee Michael Zyla (34)
Referee –
Linesman Shane Kanaly (74)
Linesman Sam Schildkraut (46)

Highlights

Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Steelheads Lines


Nolan Vesey goal (1 – 0 Worcester)


Jordan Kawaguchi goal (1 – 1 Tie)


Zane Franklin goal (2 – 1 Idaho)


Reece Newkirk goal (2 – 2 Tie)


Matt Register goal (3 – 2 Idaho)


Nolan Vesey goal (3 – 3 Tie)


Owen Headrick goal (4 – 3 Idaho)


Jade Miller Empty Net goal (5 – 3 Idaho)