Sports stats



ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Complete Weekend Sweep Over Titans, 5-3

March 25, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals of the ECHL (34-28-3-475, 3rd Atlantic Division), affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League and the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, defeated the Trenton Titans (21-39-3-651, 4th Atlantic Division), 5-3, at Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The win, which was the Royals third consecutive victory this weekend over the Titans, combined with a loss by the Cincinnati Cyclones and a win by the Chicago Express, puts the Royals in a three-way tie for the eighth and final playoff spot in the ECHL's Eastern Conference with three regular season games left.

Reading's Mark Owuya (win, 15-5-1-2, 23/26) pushed his season record to 4-0-1 against the Titans this year with his third straight win in his twelfth straight start for Reading. Brad Phillips (loss, 8-14-0-2, 41/46) was exceptional, particularly in the third when the Royals pounded nineteen shots on net; but he dropped to 2-5-0-2 this year against Reading. Neither the Royals (0-1), nor the Titans (0-2) capitalized on the power play.

Reading struck first 6:28 into the game when Casey Haines slid a pass off the right half wall to the mid-slot where Yannick Tifu, who was cutting down the middle of the ice, angled it to the left side of the Titan net for his twenty-first of the season.

Twenty-seven seconds into the second, Matt Caruana scored the first of what would prove to be a three goal game, while the two teams were playing four aside. Yannick Riendeau, who would end up with three points on the night (1g-2a), made a great move to gain the mid-slot and fed the puck Caruana, who was planted low on the right side of the Titans' crease. Caruana tried to give it back to Riendeau at the top of the crease. His pass was cut off, but it rebounded right back to his stick, so he fired from a sharp angle for his ninth of the year.

Trenton broke through 3:03 into the second, when Corey Syvret fired from the left point. Owuya made the save, but the rebound kicked hard off his body to the low slot, where Dustin Cameron corralled and stick-handled around Owuya, stuffing in a back-hand for his twenty-first of the year.

3:41 after that, Reading regained the two-goal lead, when Riendeau drilled a hot bullet from the high slot that blew by an maze of traffic in front of Trenton's net and hit pay-dirt behind Phillips for Riendeau's twelfth of the year.

Reading extended the team's lead to 4-1 with Caruana's second of the night. Mikael Bedard carried coast-to-coast eluding several Titans as he carried down the left wing side into Trenton's defensive zone. As he got below the goal line, Bedard dropped to the left circle where a waiting Caruana beat it through Phillips for his tenth of the year.

Trenton made a game of it in the third with back-to-back goals to cut the Royals' lead to 4-3. The first came on a bullet out of the left circle by Randy Rowe that blitzed by Owuya 4:53 into the third; the second came off the stick of Cameron, who finished from the weak side on a cross-ice feed for his second of the game.

Reading got a little breathing room however, when Caruana completed the hattrick 10:59 into the third. Olivier Labelle fed a diagonal down pass from the right side of the slot to the left side of the crease, where Caurana had the inside track, redirecting it home for his first hattrick as a Royal. Reading held on from that point forward to run the team's record to a season high six games over .500.

The Royals return to action on Wednesday (March 28, 2012 @ 7:05 pm) when the Wheeling Nailers make their final regular season appearance at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. It's Advertiser Appreciation Night and select draft beer will be just $2.00. Wednesday's game night broadcast will start at 6:35 pm with the Red Robin Gourmet Burger Pre-Game Warm-up Show on ESPN Radio 1240 am in Reading. Streaming audio is available free of charge courtesy of America One through the Royals' website, www.royalshockey.com.

Check out the Reading Royals Statistics

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from March 25, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central