Reading puts up a fight, loses 2-1 to Johnstown

READING, Pa – The Reading Royals are off to their worst start in team history, and unless things turn around in a hurry, you can bet some major changes are coming very soon.
Wednesday night, the last place Reading Royals hosted the first-place Johnstown Chiefs in a North Division clash at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pa. What the home fans watched was a microcosm of what is the Royals achillies heal: The team can’t score goals. Still, given the outcome of the Florida Everblades losing to the Trenton Devils 7-6 last weekend, anything was possible. The Royals scored the

first goal of the game and held the Chiefs high powered offense scoreless in the first period. It seemed possible that Reading could pull off the upset. Unfortunately for the home fans, the Chiefs pulled ahead with two goals in the second period and kept the lead til the end, for a final score of 2-1. In the first period, neither team appeared to have an advantage. Both teams remained scoreless until well into the first period. Strong defense on Reading’s part, including several shots deflected by Kirk MacDonald and Steve Ward, helped neutralize Johnstown’s powerful press, led by Randy Rowe. A frustrated Chiefs team started pushing on defense and took penalties that resulted in the Royals being given a 2-man advantage at 15:35. Matt Faulkner worked one into the goal with assists from Ward and Rob LaLonde within 12 seconds into the advantage giving Reading a 1-0 lead. Down a goal, the Chiefs came on strong in the second period and  appeared to skate faster, passing better, and checked harder than the Royals. Rowe tied up the game for the Chiefs shortly into the second with assists from Ryan DelMonte and Trevor Hendrikx. The Royals put up an excellent fight, knocking shots out of the air and Chiefs into the boards, but at 6:51, Johnstown’s Mike Knight scored a decisive goal giving them the 2-1 lead with assists from Andy Contois and Petr Pohl. Reading goaltender Danny Taylor was strong in goal with some amazing catches and good covers, as the Chiefs went on the attack. Reading fought back at the very end with a flurry of shots on goal with two minutes left in the game, but could not get the puck past Chiefsgoaltender Ian Keserich. In a last ditch effort, Taylor was pulled from goal. Between being pressed in the corners and the solid goaltending of Keserich, Reading could not tie the game. With the win, the Chiefs are now 5-0-0 against the Reading Royals for this season, and have won their last 9 meetings. Despite the loss, Reading has shown that they cannot be discounted the rest of the season. With some strong defense, they held their own against the Chiefs in this meeting. There’s still a long way to go, but the Royals will need to find some offense in a hurry. Contact the author at  courtney.schilling@prohockeynews.com Contact the photographer at  brian.mechling@prohockeynews.com