Game Story

Worcester, MA — The Worcester Railers overcame two separate two-point deficits to defeat the Reading Royals 7-6 in overtime on Friday night at the DCU Center.

Four separate Railers had multi-point games, and twelve different Railers picked up points on Friday night. Trevor Cosgrove had a game-high 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists). Railers goals were scored by: Nick Fea, Liam Coughlin, Blake Christensen, Trevor Cosgrove, and Collin Adams. Will MacKinnon, Brendan Hoffman, Max Newton, Garrett McFadden, and Charlie Gerard were the goal scorers for Reading. Brent Moran picked up his first ECHL win in his third start of the season, making 31 saves against the Royals, while Nolan Maier stopped 29 shots against the Railers. Ken Appleby was out of the lineup for a second straight game with an apparent injury, and with Henrik Tikkanen being recalled earlier in the week, former Providence College goaltender Austin Cain was the backup for Brent Moran. It was the second time the Railers have won when trailing after one period and the first time the Railers had won after trailing after two periods this season.

Will MacKinnon opened the scoring for Reading at 1:43 in the first period, tapping in a loose puck that was left behind after an initial shot by Tyler Kirkup, beating Brent Moran pad-side. Nick Fea evened things out two minutes later, wrapping his stick around the back of the net with the puck eventually going after a bounce off a pair of Royals defenders for his fourth goal of the season. Brendan Hoffman regained the lead for Reading, scoring on a shorthanded breakaway after stealing the puck from Myles McGurty to make it 2-1. Royals would have the one-goal advantage with both teams having 12 shots on goal heading into the second period.

Royals and Railers both scored twice in the second period with Max Newton and Liam Coughlin scoring their first of two goals on the night in the second period during the first five minutes of the frame, followed by goals from Blake Christensen and Garrett McFadden in the second half of the period. Garrett McFadden scored late into the period, top-shelf with 9 seconds left in the second period. Royals still had the edge, leading 4-3 after two and both teams had 15 shots on goal in the second period.

Max Newton brought the game to 5-3, scoring just 25 seconds into the third period for his second goal of the night. A change of momentum would come shortly thereafter following a few rough plays that saw three Railers defensemen come down in a matter of minutes. Jared Brandt and Myles McGurty both came down after blocking shots, resulting in a stoppage of play at the 2:57 mark of the period. McGurty would head to the locker room and later returned, while Brandt headed to the bench and did not miss a shift. Christian Evers took a stick to the face at 3:48 with another stoppage of play with Evers being helped off the ice and going to the locker room and leaving a pool of blood on the ice. Evers would not return to the game. Trevor Cosgrove would score his first and second professional goals in a 30-second time frame, his first one a slapshot from the left circle, the second on a deflection up front. Liam Coughlin would go on to score his second of the night at the 14:23 mark, tapping in a shot from Reece Newkirk on the power play. Railers would hold their first lead of the game, all heading up to the final fifteen seconds of regulation where Charlie Gerard forced overtime with Nolan Maier pulled for the extra attacker.

Collin Adams secured the victory for Worcester by scoring the game-winning goal 53 seconds into overtime. After an initial block from Royals’ Garrett McFadden, Adams regained control of the puck and quickly scored on his second chance, beating Nolan Maier at the 53-second mark. Adam’s goal was his team-leading fifth game-winning goal of the season, the third of which came in overtime.

The three stars of Friday night’s game were:

  1. Collin Adams (Worcester) – game-winning goal, 1 assist, +1
  2. Trevor Cosgrove (Worcester) – 2 goals, 3 assists, +2
  3. Liam Coughlin (Worcester) – 2 goals

With the Railers’ first back-to-back wins of 2023, they trail the Maine Mariners by one point for third place in the division. They control fourth place in the North division standings with a 13-point lead over the Trois-Rivières Lions, who beat the Adirondack Thunder 4-2 on Friday night. Elsewhere, the Norfolk Admirals shutout Maine 3-0, and the Newfoundland Growlers beat the Cincinnati Cyclones 2-1 in Cincinnati.

The home-and-away series against the Royals continues into Saturday, with the Royals and Railers facing again, this time in Reading, PA at the Santander Arena at 7 PM.

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Box Score

Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 T
2 2 2 0
1 2 3 1
Shots 1 2 3 T
12 15 10 0
12 15 8 1
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
1 – 0 1:43 – 1st W. MacKinnon (4) T. Kirkup, C. Felix
1 – 1 3:23 – 1st N. Fea (4) C. Evers, C. Adams
2 – 1 14:26 – 1st B. Hoffmann (6) SH
3 – 1 0:37 – 2nd M. Newton (19) G. McFadden, E. Barratt PP
3 – 2 4:24 – 2nd L. Coughlin (4) T. Cosgrove, B. Jerry
3 – 3 11:36 – 2nd B. Christensen (8) A. Repaci, C. McCarthy
4 – 3 19:51 – 2nd G. McFadden (4) E. Barratt, M. Newton PP
5 – 3 0:25 – 3rd M. Newton (20) D. Cormier, E. Barratt
5 – 4 5:13 – 3rd T. Cosgrove (1) B. Christensen, B. Beaudoin
5 – 5 14:29 – 3rd T. Cosgrove (2) A. Terchiyev, Q. Ryan
5 – 6 14:29 – 3rd L. Coughlin (5) R. Newkirk, T. Cosgrove PP
6 – 6 19:44 – 3rd C. Gerard (17) M. Newton, G. McFadden
7-6 0:53 – 1st OT C. Adams (13) T. Cosgrove

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 30 K. Fulcher 0 0 0 0 0
G 73 N. Maier 0 0 0 0 0
D 5 W. MacKinnon 1 0 0 3 0
F 7 D. Paliani 0 0 -1 1 0
F 8 J. Timmons 0 0 0 1 0
F 9 C. Gerard 1 0 -1 3 0
F 11 A. Butcher 0 0 -1 1 0
D 12 M. Millman 0 0 -1 2 0
F 16 S. Sellar 0 0 +1 1 0
F 17 M. Newton 2 2 0 7 0
F 19 E. Barratt 0 3 -1 4 0
F 24 J. Gaucher 0 0 -2 2 0
D 26 C. Felix 0 1 -1 0 2
D 27 G. McFadden 1 2 -2 3 0
F 39 B. Hoffmann 1 0 0 3 0
F 43 T. Kirkup 0 1 0 2 0
D 58 D. Cormier 0 1 0 3 4
D 79 A. Beraldo 0 0 -1 0 0
F 91 Y. Mongo 0 0 +2 1 0
Team:
Totals: 6 10 -8 37 6
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
73 N. Maier (L) – 36 29 7 –
Totals: – 36 29 7 –
# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 30 B. Moran 0 0 0 0 0
G 39 A. Cain 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 C. McCarthy 0 1 +2 1 0
F 7 L. Coughlin 2 0 0 5 0
F 8 B. Butler 0 0 -1 2 0
D 10 T. Cosgrove 2 3 +2 4 0
F 12 B. Beaudoin 0 1 0 2 0
F 13 B. Jerry 0 1 0 0 0
D 15 C. Evers 0 1 +2 1 0
F 18 B. Christensen 1 1 +1 2 2
F 19 Q. Ryan 0 1 +1 2 2
D 20 A. Terchiyev 0 1 +2 1 0
F 21 C. Adams 1 1 +1 2 0
F 22 N. Fea 1 0 +2 3 4
F 23 A. Bakanov 0 0 -1 3 0
D 26 J. Brandt 0 0 -2 3 0
D 27 M. McGurty 0 0 -1 2 2
F 37 R. Newkirk 0 1 -2 3 0
F 81 A. Repaci 0 1 +2 0 0
Team:
Totals: 7 13 8 36 10
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
30 B. Moran (W) – 37 31 6 –
Totals: – 37 31 6 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
13:41 – 1st D. Cormier 2 Closing hand on puck (67.2)
17:25 – 1st B. Christensen 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
18:43 – 1st M. McGurty 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)
18:50 – 2nd Q. Ryan 2 High-sticking – minor (60.2)
10:56 – 3rd D. Cormier 2 Holding the stick – minor (54.2)
10:56 – 3rd N. Fea 4 High-sticking – double minor (60.3)
13:40 – 3rd C. Felix 2 Holding – minor (54.2)


Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Jack Quinlivan, Ken Appleby, Noah Delmas, Nolan Vesey, Philip Beaulieu, and Zack Bross.
  • Reading Scratches: Josh Boyko and Mike Chen.
  • Reece Newkirk wore an alternate captain letter alongside Myles McGurty for the first time this season on Friday.
  • The jersey auction of the night was a #13 Connor McCarthy White Jersey, which was worn during the 2021-22 season.
  • The Railers had the following streaks following Friday night’s game:
    • Liam Coughlin snapped an eleven-game scoring drought with two goals on Friday.
    • Connor McCarthy snapped a fifteen-game scoring drought with an assist on Friday.
    • Andrei Bakanov is without a point in his last four games.
    • Jared Brandt is without a point in his last five games.
    • Myles McGurty is without a point in his last five games.

Railers Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Andrei Bakanov #23 Reece Newkirk #37 Bobby Butler #8
Forward Line 2 Nick Fea #22 Collin Adams #21 Quinn Ryan #19
Forward Line 3 Blake Christensen #18 Brent Beaudoin #12 Anthony Repaci #81
Rotated Forwards – Liam Coughlin #7 Billy Jerry #13
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Christian Evers #15 Connor McCarthy #2
Defense Pair 2 Jared Brandt #26 Myles McGurty #27
Defense Pair 3 Artur Terchiyev #20 Trevor Cosgrove #10
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Brent Moran #30
Backup Goaltender Austin Cain #39

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee Austin O’Rourke (10)
Referee –
Linesman Ryan Bradshaw (76)
Linesman Nathan Frechette (49)


Highlights

Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines

[As Reading has a minimal social media presence, they do not tweet out their lines.]

Royals Lines

[As Reading has a minimal social media presence, this goal was not tweeted.]

Will MacKinnon goal (1-0 Reading)


Nick Fea goal (Tied 1-1)

[As Reading has a minimal social media presence, this goal was not tweeted.]

Brendan Hoffman goal (2-1 Reading)

[As Reading has a minimal social media presence, this goal was not tweeted.]

Max Newton first goal (3-1 Reading)


Liam Coughlin first goal (3-2 Reading)


Blake Christensen goal (Tied 3-3)

[As Reading has a minimal social media presence, this goal was not tweeted.]

McFadden goal (4-3 Reading)

[As Reading has a minimal social media presence, this goal was not tweeted.]

Max Newton second goal (5-3 Reading)

[For one reason or another, this goal was not tweeted out by the Railers.]

Trevor Cosgrove first goal (5-4 Reading)

[For one reason or another, this goal was not tweeted out by the Railers.]

Trevor Cosgrove second goal (Tied 5-5)


Liam Coughlin second goal (6-5 Worcester)

[As Reading has a minimal social media presence, this goal was not tweeted.]

Charlie Gerard goal (Tied 6-6)


Collin Adams goal (7-6 Worcester)