Blades Derail Worcester in Rubber Match 5-3
Published on January 13, 2026 under ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
Florida Everblades forward Jett Jones
(Florida Everblades)
WORCESTER, Mass. - ECHL All-Star Anthony Romano scored a pair of first-period goals, Gianfranco Cassaro added a goal and an assist, and the Florida Everblades knocked off the Worcester Railers 5-3 Sunday afternoon in the DCU Center to win the rubber game of the teams' three-game series
Following a testy pre-game warmup, the Everblades struck first, as Romano redirected a shot from the blue line by Kade Landry for his 10th goal of the season, putting Florida on top 1-0 just 4:05 into the contest.
After Worcester's Michael Suda evened the score at the 7:14 mark, Romano reclaimed the lead for the Everblades with his second goal of the afternoon coming on the power play at 13:04. Two beautiful feeds by Jordan Sambrook and Cassaro set up Romano's 11th goal of the year and gave the good guys a 2-1 lead and a 13-6 shot advantage after 20 minutes.
Action from a busy first period bubbled over into the middle frame. After Worcester's Jesse Pulkkinen tied the game 1:18 into the second, the Everblades retook the lead for the third time. Jett Jones redirected a Zach Berzolla shot home for his second marker of the year, putting Florida in front 3-2 at 8:59. Kyle Betts also earned a helper.
Cassaro gave the Everblades some breathing room and a 4-2 lead with 35.2 seconds left in the middle period. Cassaro's fourth goal of the season came the sharpest of angles, as he potted a pass from Craig Needham while straddling the goal line wide of the net to end the second period. The Blades outshot Worcester 11-7 over the middle 20 minutes.
Anthony Repaci's shorthanded goal for Worcester at 5:45 of the third period cut the Everblades' lead to 4-3. The Blades had several great looks in the final two minutes thanks to an ill-advised bench minor on the Railers, and finally tacked on an empty-net goal with 9.3 seconds left to close out the 5-3 victory. Betts picked up an assist to join Romano and Cassaro with two-point games.
The Everblades outshot Worcester 14-7 in the final period and 38-20 for the game.
Will Cranley (11-1-0-0) stopped 17 shots in goal for the Everblades. Worcester netminder Tristan Lennox, who appeared in one game with the NHL's New York Islanders in 2024-25, made 33 saves for the Railers.
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 Florida Everblades forward Jett Jones |
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