Game Story

Henrik Tikkanen made his second appearance of the season, with 26 saves, his first win against Norfolk since November 23, 2022 (4-4-0). Alex Worthington made his first career start against Worcester, stopping an impressive 36 saves on the night. With a couple injuries on defense, Jason Horvath was activated and made his season debut on Saturday. Norfolk dressed 17 skaters on the opposite side of the ice. Admirals goals were scored by Brady Fleurent, Justin Young. Worcester goals were scored by Cole Donhauser, Ryan Miotto, and Matt Demelis with the overtime winner.

Lincoln Hatten and Brayden Nicholetts dropped the gloves at 3:10 of the first period. Hatten got the upper hand early, landing most of his punches before the pair tumbled to the ice. Nicholetts headed to the locker room for repairs but returned later wearing a face shield. With the FloHockey broadcast stuck on a replay graphic for much of the period, the game remained scoreless. Norfolk received a fortunate power play at 17:25 when Michael Ferrandino was called for a penalty, but just 12 seconds later, Anthony Callin drew an interference call on Justin Young, bringing play to 4-on-4. Shots were 10-9 Worcester in the scoreless first period.

Brady Fleurent gave Norfolk a 1-0 lead just 56 seconds into the second period. Cole Donhauser evened the score at 12:59 with his second goal of the season, as his shot deflected off an Admirals defender, rang off the crossbar, and bounced in behind Alex Worthington. Justin Young put Norfolk back on top at 18:17, sliding a shot through Henrik Tikkanen’s five-hole after Tikkanen lost track of the puck. Worcester held a 15-10 shot advantage in the period but trailed 2-1 heading into the third, with overall shots sitting at 25-19, bringing shot tallies to 25-19.

Ryan Miotto scored on an upstream pass on a breakaway from Riley Piercey to tie the game back up at 2:20. Cole Fraser went down after being checked into the boards headfirst by German Yavish at 5:33 in the third period. Fraser was slow to the bench but returned to the game later in the period. The game would go into overtime with shots being tied at 8 in the third period, totals coming to 33-27 Worcester.

Alex Worthington kept Norfolk in it during overtime, turning aside quality chances from Michael Ferrandino, Matt DeMelis, Anthony Hora, and Drew Callin. DeMelis finally broke through at 4:34, slipping the puck past Worthington’s blocker at the top of the crease to seal Worcester’s first win of the season. The Railers controlled the puck most of the overtime period, outshooting the Admirals 6-1.

The three stars of the game were:

1. Matt DeMelis (Worcester) – 1 goal
2. Henrik Tikkanen (Worcester) – win, 26 saves
3. Alex Worthington (Norfolk) – 36 saves

Around the North Division… The Maine Mariners rolled past the Wheeling Nailers 7–3 in Portland, while the Adirondack Thunder topped the Trois-Rivières Lions 4-1 at home. In Greensboro, the Reading Royals erased a late deficit and scored with 22 seconds left to force overtime, eventually winning 8–7 over the Gargoyles. Maine and Wheeling are the only North Division teams in action on Sunday, while six teams will hit the ice again on Friday.

The Railers were the final team in the league to record a point this season, as the Kalamazoo Wings picked up one earlier in the day with a 5–4 overtime win, and the Indy Fuel also earned a point in an overtime loss.

The Railers head back to Worcester where they’ll host the Reading Royals in back-to-back games next weekend on 7:05 p.m. on Halloween night.

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Box Score

Scoring	1	2	3	OT	T
	0	1	1	1	3
	0	2	0	0	2

Shots	1	2	3	OT	T
	10	15	8	6	39
	9	10	8	1	28

Score	Team	Time	Scored by	Assisted by	Type
0 – 1		0:56 – 2nd	B. Fleurent (3)
1 – 1		12:59 – 2nd	C. Donhauser (2)	A. Repaci
1 – 2		18:17 – 2nd	J. Young (1)	D. Drake
2 – 2		2:20 – 3rd	R. Miotto (1)	R. Piercey
3 – 2		4:34 – 1st OT	M. DeMelis (1)	M. Ferrandino

Rosters

	#	Player	G	A	+/-	SH	PIM
G	30	T. Lennox	0	0	0	0	0
G	39	H. Tikkanen	0	0	0	0	0
D	3	A. Hora	0	0	0	3	0
D	4	C. Odelius	0	0	0	2	0
F	7	M. Dorrington	0	0	0	2	2
D	8	M. Ferrandino	0	1	+1	2	2
F	10	R. Miotto	1	0	+1	1	0
F	11	L. Hatten	0	0	0	0	5
F	13	T. Kobryn	0	0	0	1	0
D	15	J. Horvath	0	0	0	1	0
F	16	R. Mitton	0	0	0	1	0
F	19	R. Piercey	0	1	-1	1	0
F	26	T. Walsh	0	0	0	1	0
D	28	K. Dunn	0	0	0	1	0
F	29	C. Donhauser	1	0	+1	2	0
F	37	M. DeMelis	1	0	+1	3	0
F	44	A. Callin	0	0	0	4	0
D	74	C. Fraser	0	0	0	2	0
F	77	D. Callin	0	0	-1	5	0
F	81	A. Repaci	0	1	+1	7	0
		Team:	0			0

	Player	MIN	SH	SVS	GA	SV%
39	H. Tikkanen (W)	64:34	28	26	2	0.929
	Totals:	64:34	28	26	2	0.929

	#	Player	G	A	+/-	SH	PIM
G	30	I. Poulter	0	0	0	0	0
G	31	A. Worthington	0	0	0	0	0
F	9	J. O’Leary	0	0	-1	0	0
D	10	B. Engum	0	0	-1	2	0
D	12	D. Geregach	0	0	-1	2	0
D	14	C. Fedorek	0	0	-1	0	0
D	15	E. Parker	0	0	+1	2	0
F	16	M. Reifenberger	0	0	0	0	2
F	17	J. Dureau	0	0	0	2	0
F	18	J. Isley	0	0	0	3	0
F	21	J. Young	1	0	+1	4	2
D	23	J. McDougall	0	0	0	3	0
F	24	K. Papp	0	0	-1	0	0
F	25	B. Osmundson	0	0	+1	1	0
F	27	B. Nicholetts	0	0	-1	0	5
F	28	G. Yavash	0	0	+1	2	2
D	44	B. Zloty	0	0	-1	2	0
D	55	D. Drake	0	1	+1	0	0
F	93	G. Hebert	0	0	0	2	0
F	94	B. Fleurent	1	0	-1	3	0
		Team:	0			0

	Player	MIN	SH	SVS	GA	SV%
31	A. Worthington (L)	64:34	39	36	3	0.923
	Totals:	64:34	39	36	3	0.923

Penalties

Time	Team	Player	Mins	Infraction
3:10 – 1st		L. Hatten	5	Fighting – Major (46.14)
3:10 – 1st		B. Nicholetts	5	Fighting – Major (46.14)
4:52 – 1st		M. Reifenberger	2	Holding the stick – minor (54.2)
11:26 – 1st		M. Dorrington	2	Slashing – minor (61.2)
17:25 – 1st		M. Ferrandino	2	Tripping – minor (57.2)
17:37 – 1st		J. Young	2	Interference – minor (56.2)
5:33 – 3rd		G. Yavash	2	Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)

Notes

• Worcester Scratches: Cam McDonald, Kolby Johnson, Matt Stief, Porter Schachle, Riley Ginnell, Tanner Schachle, and Thomas Gale.
• Norfolk Scratches: Andrei Bakanov, Carson Musser, Josh McDougall, Matt Crasa, Tanner Andrew, and Will Magnuson.
• Cam McDonald and Matt Stief were out of the line-up on Saturday. Per the pregame show interview with head coach Nick Tuzzolino, both were out due to wrist injuries. Stief was placed on reserve with Horvath being activated, and he made his season debut on Saturday.
  The owner of the Anthony Repaci Military Appreciation jersey that was sold in the live auction reached out to me this morning, so I can confirm that two jerseys exist, both with nearly identical off-center nameplates, but only one shows shoulder wear consistent with game use and that was the jersey one in the live auction. The live auction jerseys were signed in silver, while the MeiGray jersey is in gold. Given the lack of wear on their jersey and evidence that there is one with more wear, the MeiGray jersey was not worn for the entire game they described.
• Following Friday night’s game, the Railers have the following scoring droughts:
  • Anthony Hora is without a point in his last four games.
  • Calle Odelius is without a point in his last three games.
  • Cam McDonald is without a point in his last four games.
  • Max Dorrington is without a point in his last four games.
  • Michael Ferrandino is snapped a three-game scoring streak with an assist.
  • Lincoln Hatten is without a point in his last four games.
  • Riley Piercey is without a point in his last four games.
  • TJ Walsh is without a point in his last four games.
  • Kabore Dunn is without a point in his last three games.
  • Cole Fraser is without a point in his last four games.

Railers Lines

On-Ice Officials

Notable X Posts as the Game Happened

Railers Lines

Lincoln Hatten v. Brayden Nicholetts

Cole Donhauser goal

Ryan Miotto goal

Matt DeMelis goal