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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Drop Bombers, 3-1

March 2, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals (33-18-5=71, 2nd North Division) of the ECHL got a late game goal from Joe Zappala to break a 1-1 tie and propel the Royals to a 3-1 win over the Dayton Bombers at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. With this win, the Royals not only surpassed the total number of wins registered by last year's team, but also took sole possession of second place in the North Division. Goaltender Terry Denike (6-6-2; 25/26) became the third separate goaltender for Reading this year to hold the opposition to one goal or less; while Jeremy Duchesne (11-8-5; 42/44; 1 eng) played brilliantly but turned out to be the hard luck loser.

After a scoreless first during which the two teams traded a number of golden scoring chances, each of which were rejected by their respective goaltenders, the Royals finally broke through at the 7:53 mark of the second. Charlie Kronschnabel won a defensive zone face-off and sprang Shawn Collymore on a break. Collymore turned on the jets, slipped a Dayton defender who tried to pinch him off on the wall at the defensive blue line, and charged deep in the Dayton zone on the right wing side. Collymore then sent a brilliant feed to the hard-driving Ned Lukacevic, who slipped in on the back door and re-directed the pass into the upper reaches of the net for his fourteenth goal of the year. The Bombers bounced back with a power play goal at the 13:28 mark of the second. Matt Beaudoin took control on the wall deep on the right wing side. As he skated toward the center of the ice, he ripped a back-hander out of the right circle that beat Denike high to the stick side for Beaudoin's league leading thirty-fourth goal of the year.

The two teams played tight to the vest in the third, but the Royals got what proved to be the game winner with just 6:32 remaining in regulation. Shawn Germain stood up at the defensive blue line and punched a loose puck up ice to a breaking Joe Zappala, who cut to the net and got a shot on goal. Duchesne made the original stop, but a scramble ensued on the rebound with Patrick Jarrett and Collymore keeping the play alive. The puck finally popped free to the right side of the crease, where Zappala settled and fired for his fourteenth goal of the year. For Zappala that goal extended a personal goal scoring streak to six games, and he has now scored ten goals in his last eleven games with the team. The Bombers pushed for a comeback and got a little help with a late game interference call on Royals' defenseman Dave Pszenyczny. Reading's penalty killers came up with a couple of key clears; and late in the power play, Dayton pulled their goaltender in favor of the sixth attacker; but when Pszenyczny came out of the penalty box, Jarrett fed him for a break; and Pszenyczny bagged the empty netter for some insurance with 21.6 seconds remaining. With this win, Reading's home record now stands at 18-7-3.

Reading next heads out on the road for three straight, starting on Friday night (March 7; 7:30 pm) in Cincinnati, Ohio at U.S. Bank Arena against the first place Cincinnati Cyclones. The game night broadcast that night will begin at 7:00 pm with the pre-game warm-up show on ESPN Radio 1240 am in Ephrata, as well as on the internet through the Royals' website, www.royalshockey.com. Streaming video is available on a pay per view basis through the B2 Networks.

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