READING, PA –Reading Royals goalie Andrew D’Agostini moved to 5-0-1-0 on the season with 22 saves to squish the Maine Mariners, 3-1, Wednesday at Santander Arena. The win moves the Royals to 19-14-3-5, good for 46 points and tied for fourth in the North Division.
D’Agostini fought off all eight Maine shots in the third and blocked nine in the first to open the game.
Reading scored the first two goals of the contest and led 2-1 heading into the third. Chris McCarthy assisted the game’s first goal and tallied for the second straight game to give Reading the opening two strikes. Frank Hora potted his first of the season to open the scoring. Tyler Brown score an empty-net goal with 30.7 seconds left to ice the game.
Brandon Halverson took the loss with 29 denials (2 goals against).
Reading out shot Maine, 10-9, in a scoreless first frame.
Hora opened the scoring after converting on a rebound at 3:59 of the second. After taking a slot pass from McCarthy, Hora wristed it off the pads and then gathered left post. He quickly nudged it top shelf for his first goal since January 21, 2018 against Brampton. Frank DiChiara received the secondary assist.
More beautiful passing near the front of cage gave Reading a 2-0 edge six minutes later. Joe Houk pushed it to Adam Schmidt at the right circle and he redirected it to net front. McCarthy quickly twisted it behind Halverson for his 11th of the season. He is riding a five-game point streak and has three straight multi-point games.
Maine struck back on a backdoor pass from Dillan Fox to John Furgele to cut the edge to 2-1 with 6:39 left in the middle period. Fox passed from the left-wing half wall to Furgele at the right post.
Brown stole the puck at the defensive line of the Mariners and shot it from the left-wing boards into the empty net, unassisted.
The Royals are on the road on Friday, February 1st versus Adirondack at 7 p.m. The team returns home for a back-to-back against Manchester starting Saturday, February 2nd at 7 p.m.
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