WORCESTER, MA – The Worcester Railers HC (3-8-1-0, 7 points) had another solid effort but dropped a frustrating 3-1 decision to the host Maine Mariners (5-5-0-1, 9 points) in front of 5,003 fans at the Cross Arena on Saturday evening.
Barry Almeida gave the Railers a 1-0 lead in the first period while Evan Buitenhuis made 31 saves in net. Brandon Halverson made 32 saves for the Mariners in his second win of the season and Maine rattled off three unanswered goals as the Railers dropped to 0-6-1-0 in their last seven games overall.
Almeida (4th goal of season) gave Worcester a 1-0 lead at 17:50 after a great entry into the zone by Tyler Barnes who carried in down the right wing side and fed Almeida from behind the net. Maine would tie the score at 19:14 on the power play as Scott Savage (2nd) fired a wicked one-timer from the right circle assisted by Sean Day and Drew Melanson. Shots were 10-9 in favor of Maine through 20 minutes of play.
Worcester outshot Maine 18-12 in a scoreless second period as both goaltenders made several nice stops to keep the game tied 1-1 through 40 minutes of play.
The Mariners would grab their first lead of the game as Mike McNicholas (1st) scored his first professional goal at 6:51 of the third period to give Maine the 2-1 advantage. A near line brawl broke out at 14:46 after Railers captain Mike Cornell was cross checked in the corner and despite the Railers down a skater, the penalty calls were evened off. Maine put in an empty netter when the Railers were on the power play at 17:37 as Ryan Culkin (2nd) fired a bullseye from 200 feet.
Notes: Three Stars: 3rd star: Scott Savage (1-0-1) 2nd star: Mike McNicholas (1-0-1) 1st star: Brandon Halverson (32 saves, Win)… Final shots were 34-33 in favor of Maine… Brandon Halverson (2-3-0-1) made 32 saves on 33 shots for Maine… Evan Buitenhuis (1-3-1-0) made 31 saves on 33 shots for Worcester while Jason San Antonio served as the emergency backup… Worcester went 0-for-4 on the power play while Maine went 1-for-5…Tommy Kelley (injury), Yanick Turcotte (injury), Connor Doherty, Alex Vanier, Malcolm Gould, and Mitch Gillam (injury) did not dress for Worcester… Jeff Kubiak is currently on recall with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers… Before the game forward Tommy Tsicos was released and the Railers signed forward Malcolm Gould… Barry Almeida has scored in back-to-back games for the Railers and led the club with five shots on goal… The Railers have just 10 goals in their last seven games… Worcester fell to 2-6-0-0 on the road this season.
What’s on tap?
The Railers return home for a busy four home game in five-day stretch beginning on Wednesday, November 14th at 10 a.m. versus the Reading Royals with the second annual School Day Game sponsored by Worcester Telegram and Gazette’s Newspapers in Education program.
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