Game Story

Charleston, SC — The Worcester Railers were shutout 4-0 to the South Carolina Stingrays in a school day matchup at the North Charleston Coliseum on Wednesday morning.

Hugo Ollas was back in net for Worcester, making his tenth appearance as a Railer. He stopped 31 of 35 shots by South Carolina. His efforts would not be enough as the Railers struggled to make the scoresheet, marking their first shutout loss of the season. Jacob Graves, Kyler Kupka, Connor Moore, and Josh Wilkins were the goal scorers for South Carolina. Jordan Kaplan had his point streak snapped at 5 games (3-2-5) and his goal streak snapped at three, he led the team with 5 shots on the morning. The Stingrays recap notes at over 9,000 fans in attendance, this was the biggest school day game in the franchise’s history.

The Railers were handed their third loss of the season to the Stingrays, the previously fell to the Stingrays 4-1 on November 13, 2024 and again on that Friday November 15, 2024 8-1. The Stingrays were undefeated with a 19-0 record this season heading into this game, with the Railers failing to get on the board at any point in the game, that record became 20-0.

The South Carolina Stingrays, taking an early 1-0 lead at 3:26 when Jacob Graves’ shot from the right point found the back of the net through traffic. The Stingrays controlled the first period, outshot Railers 14-9.

It took over 30 minutes of game time for the next goal, and once again, it was South Carolina finding the back of the net. Kyler Kupka extended the lead to 2-0 with a shorthanded goal at 14:04 of the second period, finishing a setup from Micah Miller with a glove-side shot past Worcester netminder Hugo Ollas. A minute and sixteen seconds later, Connor Moore made it 3-0, firing a shot from the right point off a feed from Tyler Weiss that sailed over Ollas’ blocker. The Stingrays maintained control in the second, outshooting Worcester 10-6.

Kolby Johnson tried to fight Troy Murray at 15:33 in the second period, after Johnson got a few punches in the scrap was broken up and both headed to the penalty boxes with double roughing minors. When the two exited the box, they dropped the mitts at center ice at 19:50 in a battle that was all Johnson with the TKO. That was Johnson’s third fighting major of the season against South Carolina and his sixth total this season. He previously fought Riley Webb in the school day game on November 13 and Andrew Perott in the Friday game.

South Carolina capped off the scoring at 17:09 of the third when Josh Wilkins found the top right corner of the net, securing the 4-0 win. The Railers were held off the board for the final 2:51, marking their first shutout loss of the season. The Railers had just two shots in the final ten minutes of the game. The Stingrays outshot Worcester 11-9 in the third and 35-24 overall.

The Three Stars of the Game were:

  1. Seth Eisele (South Carolina) – win,
  2. Jacob Graves (South Carolina) – 1 goal, +2
  3. Kyler Kupka (South Carolina) – 1 goal

In the only other North Divison game, the Reading Royals are in Kalamazoo to face the Wings at 7 p.m. At the time of this writing, that game has not begun yet. All seven North Division teams play on Friday night.

Next up, the Railers head to Savannah, GA to face the Ghost Pirates for games on Friday and Saturday nights, before swinging back up the east coast to face the Stingrays on Sunday afternoon. Puck Drops at 7:30 p.m. at the Enmarket Arena.

—

Stay in the loop and never miss an update on Worcester Railers hockey by following Woo Hockey on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can also get involved and connect with other fans of the team in the Worcester Railers Fan Club Facebook group, where you can share your thoughts on the team and discuss all things hockey.

Box Score

Scoring 1 2 3 T
0 0 0 0
1 2 1 4
Shots 1 2 3 T
9 6 9 24
14 10 11 35
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
0 – 1 3:26 – 1st J. Graves (2) B. Thompson, A. Magera
0 – 2 14:04 – 2nd K. Kupka (26) M. Miller SH
0 – 3 15:25 – 2nd C. Moore (9) T. Weiss, Z. Funk
0 – 4 17:09 – 3rd J. Wilkins (15) R. Hofer

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 30 H. Ollas 0 0 0 0 0
G 32 M. Bullion 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 K. Dunn 0 0 0 1 0
D 3 A. Hora 0 0 -2 3 0
F 4 R. Mahshie 0 0 -3 0 0
F 9 R. Ginnell 0 0 -2 0 0
F 10 J. Kaplan 0 0 -2 5 2
F 12 K. Johnson 0 0 0 1 9
F 13 T. Kobryn 0 0 0 1 0
C 15 J. Dudek 0 0 0 1 0
F 16 G. Loughran 0 0 -1 0 0
D 17 B. Lindberg 0 0 0 0 0
D 22 G. Luce 0 0 0 2 0
D 24 M. Klee 0 0 -3 0 0
D 25 R. Dickinson 0 0 -1 1 2
D 26 C. Welsh 0 0 -1 2 0
F 29 C. Donhauser 0 0 -1 1 0
F 33 L. Hatten 0 0 0 2 2
F 37 M. DeMelis 0 0 -1 2 0
F 44 A. Callin 0 0 -3 2 0
Team: 2
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
30 H. Ollas (L) – 35 31 4 –
Totals: – 35 31 4 –
# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 33 G. Bjorklund 0 0 0 0 0
G 35 S. Eisele 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 R. Rodzinski 0 0 0 3 0
F 5 A. Magera 0 1 +2 4 0
F 7 C. Combs 0 0 +1 4 0
D 9 R. Webb 0 0 0 1 0
F 11 J. Isley 0 0 0 0 0
F 15 J. Wilkins 1 0 +1 6 2
F 16 Z. Funk 0 1 +2 2 2
F 18 K. Kupka 1 0 +1 3 0
F 22 M. Miller 0 1 +2 3 0
D 27 J. Graves 1 0 +2 1 0
F 36 T. Weiss 0 1 +1 1 4
D 40 T. Murray 0 0 0 2 9
D 42 J. Klimek 0 0 +2 1 0
D 44 B. Thompson 0 1 +2 0 4
F 48 E. Middendorf 0 0 0 1 0
D 74 C. Moore 1 0 +2 2 0
F 77 R. Hofer 0 1 +1 1 0
– – – – – – – –
Team:
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
35 S. Eisele (W) – 24 24 0 –
Totals: – 24 24 0 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
0:17 – 1st T. Weiss 2 High-sticking – minor (60.2)
10:17 – 1st J. Wilkins 2 Slashing – minor (61.2)
14:53 – 1st R. Dickinson 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
14:53 – 1st T. Weiss 2 Roughing – minor (51.2)
15:14 – 1st Served by L. Hatten 2 Bench minor – Too many men (74.2)
12:41 – 2nd Z. Funk 2 Unsportsmanlike conduct – minor (75.2)
15:33 – 2nd K. Johnson 4 Double Minor – Roughing
15:33 – 2nd T. Murray 4 Double Minor – Roughing
19:50 – 2nd K. Johnson 5 Fighting – Major (46.14)
19:50 – 2nd T. Murray 5 Fighting – Major (46.14)
0:59 – 3rd J. Kaplan 2 Tripping – minor (57.2)

Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Anthony Repaci, Mark Cheremeta, Matt Ustaski, and Matthew Boudens.
  • South Carolina Scratches: Ben Hawerchuk, Dean Loukus, Jamie Engelbert, Jayden Lee, and Mitchell Gibson.
  • Following Wednesday Morning’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
    • Kabore Dunn is without a point in his last 6 games.
    • Anthony Hora is without a point in his last 5 games.
    • Ryan Mahshie is without a point in his last 5 games.
    • Jordan Kaplan snapped his point streak after 5 games and his goal streak snapped after 3 games. (3-2-5)
    • Griffin Luce is without a point in his last 7 games.
    • Mason Klee is without a point in his last 3 games.

Railers Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Cole Donhauser #29 Jordan Kaplan #10 Griffin Loughran #16
Forward Line 2 Riley Ginnell #9 Anthony Callin #44 Ryan Mahshie #4
Forward Line 3 Tyler Kobryn #13 Matt DeMelis #37 JD Dudek #15
Forward Line 4 Kolby Johnson #12 Benjamin Lindberg #17 Lincoln Hatten #33
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Griffin Luce #22 Connor Welsh #26
Defense Pair 2 Anthony Hora #3 Mason Klee #24
Defense Pair 3 Kabore Dunn #2 Ryan Dickinson #25
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Hugo Ollas #30
Backup Goaltender Michael Bullion #32

Opponent Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Josh Wilkins #15 Kyler Kupka #18 Erik Middendorf #48
Forward Line 2 Zac Funk #16 Austin Magera #5 Micah Miller #22
Forward Line 3 Tyler Weiss #36 Ryan Hofer #77 Charlie Combs #7
Forward Line 4 Jace Isley #11 – Troy Murray #40
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Jordan Klimek #42 Connor Moore #74
Defense Pair 2 Blake Thompson #44 Jacob Graves #27
Defense Pair 3 Romain Rodzinski #2 Reilly Webb #9
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Seth Eisele #35
Backup Goaltender Garin Bjorklund #33

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee Brendan Schreider (12)
Referee Hunter Mottinger (9)
Linesman Jake Paugh (88)
Linesman Tyler Willie (78)


Highlights

–

Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Stingrays Lines


Jacob Graves goal


Kyler Kupka goal


Connor Moore goal


Kolby Johnson/Troy Murray fight


Josh Wilkins goal