READING, PA – The Reading Royals, proud affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, beat the Worcester Railers, 6-4, on Monday, January 17th at Santander Arena. Royals goaltender Hayden Hawkey saved 27 of 31 shots, while Railers goalie Luke Peressini saved 24 of 30. 
Reading got on the board early and did so with a pair of goals. Brad Morrison contributed to both, finishing off a feed from the left side of Peressini’s net, and then earning an assist on Patrick Bajkov’s 13th of the season, scoring on a 2-on-1 break for an early Reading lead, 2-0.
Six minutes and 26 seconds into the middle period, the Railers got on the board. Brennan Feasey cashed in on a juicy rebound off the pads of Hawkey to score his first of the season, cutting the score to two goals, the closest the Railers would get to tying the score until the final 1:38 of play.
The second period had four different Royals players score as Reading jolted out to a commanding 6-1 lead. Bajkov beat Peressini on a one-timer set up by Trevor Gooch, netting his second goal of the afternoon.
Jackson Cressey, Brayden Low and Thomas Ebbing each scored goals in the remaining 10 minutes of the period. Low, scoring his ninth goal of the season, did so in highlight reel fashion. On a breakaway, he pulled trickery out of his pocket with a single-handed dangle, putting the puck from his forehand to his backhand and extending the puck across Perissini’s sprawled out body to complete the “Forsberg” move.
Worcester gave Hayden Hawkey and the Royals trouble in the final period of play. Two quick goals in the first four minutes off the sticks of Ross Olsson and Jacob Hayhurst began a final frame where the Railers outshot the Royals, 13-6. Anthony Repaci tapped in a cross crease feed from Hayhurst to cut the deficit down to two goals. However, the late-game comeback effort wasn’t enough, as Hawkey saved the final two shots in the 98 seconds of play remaining to seal the Royals’ victory.
The Royals take on the Adirondack Thunder on the road Friday, January 21st at 7 p.m. at Cool Insuring Arena.
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