Game Story


Wichita, KS — The Worcester Railers took game two of a three-game series on Friday night, defeating the Wichita Thunder 3-2.

Michael Bullion delivered a season-best performance with 45 saves, improving his record to 4-4 and earning his first win in four starts. Aaron Dell, making his second consecutive appearance, stopped 38 shots made by the Railers. Anthony Repaci scored twice for Worcester, while Colin Jacobs netted his first goal of the season, which would go on to be game-winner. Jake Whalin and Luke Grainer found the back of the net for the Wichita Thunder.

Several scoring droughts were snapped in this game: Connor Welsh ended a five-game drought, Matt DeMelis broke an 11-game skid, Ryan Dickinson ended his three-game dry spell, Colin Jacobs snapped a six-game drought, and Matt Kopperud scored for the first time in four games. Meanwhile, Jordan Kaplan extended his point streak to four games, tallying four assists during that span. The Railers were 1-for-1 on the power play, 2-for-2 on the penalty kill on Friday night. Friday night marked the first time in six games the Railers scored more than two goals, a feat they’ve managed only three times in their 13 games this November.

It was another snoozefest for Worcester to start things off in the first period. Jake Wahlin scored the only goal for Wichita on a rebound off the pads of Michael Bullion, Nolan Kneen made the initial shot. Whalin’s goal sent teddy bears flying at 7:18 as the Worcester looked to catch their breath, being outshot 10-2 at that point in the period. Wichita would still go on to outshoot Worcester 21-6 heading into intermission.

Anthony Repaci tied the game up on a drop pass from Jordan Kaplan at 3:46 in the second period. Worcester would double-up on Wichita’s shot counts in the second period, 22-11.

45 seconds into the third period, the Railers would go on the game’s first power play. Anthony Repaci would score on the opposite post from the right circle with 38-seconds remaining on the man advantage. Colin Jacobs scored his first goal of the season 39-seconds after Repaci’s second goal on a one-timer between the circles on a setup from Matt DeMelis. Luke Grainger made it a one-goal game at 8:47. The Railers would have back-to-back minor penalties at 11:21 and 13:23, they outshot Wichita 3-1 in the combined four minute disadvantage. Aaron Dell would be pulled for the extra attacker with 2:02 left in the third period, and Michael Bullion would hold on to stop all three shots in the closing minutes to earn his fourth win of the season.

The three stars of the Friday night’s game were:

  1. Anthony Repaci (Worcester) – 2 goals
  2. Jack Wahlin (Wichita) – 1 goal
  3. Michael Bullion (Worcester) – 45 saves, win

On Friday night, the North Division saw plenty of action and the Railers-Thunder game was the latest game of them all. The Wheeling Nailers dominated the Cincinnati Cyclones with a 5-1 victory in Cincinnati. The Reading Royals secured a 3-1 win against the Adirondack Thunder in Glens Falls, while the Norfolk Admirals edged out the Maine Mariners 3-2 in overtime in a game that featured a staggering 74 combined penalty minutes. The same six teams play again on Saturday night.

The Railers and Thunder close out the series on Saturday with a 7:05 p.m. EST / 6:05 p.m. CST puck drop.

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Box Score


Scoring 1 2 3 T
0 1 2 3
1 0 1 2
Shots 1 2 3 T
6 22 13 41
21 11 15 47
Score Team Time Scored by Assisted by Type
0 – 1 7:18 – 1st J. Wahlin (1) N. Kneen, R. Finnegan
1 – 1 3:46 – 2nd A. Repaci (12) J. Kaplan
2 – 1 2:08 – 3rd A. Repaci (13) C. Welsh, M. Kopperud PP
3 – 1 2:47 – 3rd C. Jacobs (1) M. DeMelis, R. Dickinson
3 – 2 8:47 – 3rd L. Grainger (2) J. Carroll, N. Kneen

Rosters

# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 32 M. Bullion 0 0 0 0 0
G 39 H. Tikkanen 0 0 0 0 0
F 10 J. Kaplan 0 1 -1 1 2
D 14 M. Rajaniemi 0 0 +1 4 0
F 16 G. Loughran 0 0 0 2 0
D 17 B. Rons 0 0 0 0 0
F 18 M. Kopperud 0 1 0 4 0
F 19 R. Piercey 0 0 0 3 0
D 22 G. Luce 0 0 0 1 0
C 23 C. Jacobs 1 0 +1 4 0
D 24 M. Klee 0 0 -1 1 0
D 25 R. Dickinson 0 1 +1 1 0
D 26 C. Welsh 0 1 0 1 0
F 29 C. Donhauser 0 0 +1 4 0
F 33 L. Hatten 0 0 -1 2 0
F 37 M. DeMelis 0 1 +1 2 0
F 44 A. Callin 0 0 0 1 0
D 55 A. Nielsen 0 0 -1 3 2
F 81 A. Repaci 2 0 -1 7 0
Team:
Player MIN SH SVS GA SV%
32 M. Bullion (W) – 47 45 2 –
Totals: – 47 45 2 –
# Player G A +/- SH PIM
G 32 A. Dell 0 0 0 0 0
G 33 T. Gorsuch 0 0 0 0 0
D 2 N. Somerville 0 0 0 0 2
D 4 J. Bucheler 0 0 0 1 0
D 6 T. Lloyd 0 0 0 3 0
F 10 D. Boucher 0 0 +1 4 0
F 12 P. Bates 0 0 0 0 0
F 17 R. Finnegan 0 1 +1 1 0
F 18 K. Walker 0 0 -2 1 0
F 19 J. Carroll 0 1 +1 4 0
F 20 C. Jones 0 0 -2 0 0
F 21 J. Dickman 0 0 +1 3 0
F 22 M. Stinil 0 0 0 6 0
F 23 M. Russell 0 0 0 4 0
D 25 B. Hache 0 0 0 2 0
D 27 N. Kneen 0 2 0 4 0
F 29 L. Grainger 1 0 +1 4 0
F 43 A. Heidemann 0 0 -2 4 0
D 44 D. Dockery 0 0 0 2 0
F 83 J. Wahlin 1 0 +1 4 0
Team:
Player MIN SH SVS GJ SV%
32 A. Dell (L) – 41 38 3 –
Totals: – 41 38 3 –

Penalties

Time Team Player Mins Infraction
0:45 – 3rd N. Somerville 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)
11:21 – 3rd J. Kaplan 2 Hooking – minor (55.2)
13:23 – 3rd A. Nielsen 2 Cross-Checking Minor (59.2)


Notes

  • Worcester Scratches: Jack Randl, JD Dudek, John Muse, and Kolby Johnson.
  • Wichita Scratches: Artem Guryev, Declan Smith, Gannon Laroque, Nolan Burke, and Tyler Jette.
  • The hero of Wednesday night’s game Jack Randl was out of the lineup Friday, word from the pre-game show is he was banged up in that game. Defenseman Brenden Rons took shifts on the fourth forward line as JD Dudek is still out of the line-up on injured reserve and Kolby Johnson served game two of his three-game suspension.
  • Following Friday night’s game, the Railers had the following scoring streaks and droughts:
    • Jordan Kaplan is on a three-game point streak. (0-4-4)
    • Matias Rajaniemi is without a point in all 14 games he’s played in this season.
    • Brenden Rons is without a point in all eight games he’s played in this season.
    • Riley Piercey is without a point in his last six games.
    • Connor Welsh snapped a five-game scoring drought with an assist.
    • Matt DeMelis snapped an 11-game scoring drought with an assist.
    • Anthony Callin is without a point in his last six games.
    • Andrew Nielsen is without a point in his last three games.

Railers Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Anthony Repaci #81 Jordan Kaplan #10 Lincoln Hatten #33
Forward Line 2 Matthew Kopperud #18 Anthony Callin #44 Cole Donhauser #29
Forward Line 3 Riley Piercey #19 Colin Jacobs #23 Griffin Loughran #16
Forward Line 4 Brenden Rons #17 Matt DeMelis #37 –
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Griffin Luce #22 Connor Welsh #26
Defense Pair 2 Andrew Nielsen #55 Mason Klee #24
Defense Pair 3 Matias Rajaniemi #14 Ryan Dickinson #25
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Michael Bullion #32
Backup Goaltender Henrik Tikkanen #39

Thunder Lines

Forward Lines LW C RW
Forward Line 1 Michal Stinil #22 Peter Bates #12 Mitchell Russell #23
Forward Line 2 Joe Carroll #19 Luke Grainger #29 Jay Dickman #21
Forward Line 3 Austin Heidemann #43 Carter Jones #20 Kobe Walker #18
Forward Line 4 Braden Hache #25 Ryan Finnegan #17 Dillon Boucher #10
Defensive Pairings LD RD
Defense Pair 1 Braden Hache #25 Nolan Kneen #27
Defense Pair 2 Dominic Dockery #44 Jeremie Bucheler #4
Defense Pair 3 Nico Somerville #2 T.J. Lloyd #6
Rotated Defensemen – –
Goalie Tandem G
Starting Goaltender Aaron Dell #32
Backup Goaltender Trevor Gorsuch #33

On-Ice Officials

– –
Referee Andrew Bell (24)
Referee –
Linesman Reilly Hickey (95)
Linesman Chuck Schamel (97)


Highlights

Notable Tweets as the Game Happened


Railers Lines


Thunder Lines


Jake Wahlin goal


Anthony Repaci goal


Anthony Repaci goal


Colin Jacobs goal


Luke Grainger goal