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ECHL Reading Royals

Royals Fall To The Chiefs, 4-3

December 31, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Reading Royals News Release


Reading, PA - The Reading Royals (9-22-2= 20; 7th North Division) of the ECHL scored early but were unable to hold off the Johnstown Chiefs, who beat the Royals at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pennsylvania, 4-3. The Royals are winless in six games against the Chiefs this year (0-5-1) and haven't beaten Johnstown in ten consecutive games dating back to February of last season (0-8-2). This game marked the eighth one goal loss of the season for Reading-three of which have been to the Chiefs. Goaltender Michael Ouzas (loss, 11-8-1; 26/30) sustained a loss in his first game at the Sovereign Center; while Ian Keserich (win, 6-5-0; 35/38) beat the Royals for the third time this year. Reading got a third period power play goal in seven chances with the man advantage (1-7); while two of Johnstown's goals came while playing with the man advantage (2-6).

Reading struck 1:15 into the game, when Mac Faulkner sprang Shawn Snider into the offensive end. Snider blew behind the Johnstown defense and fired a shot from point blank range. Keserich made the original stop but allowed the rebound to bounce right back to Snider, who buried the put back for his seventh of the season. Johnstown tied the game with what was technically a power play goal-but came on the second that a four-on-four situation was converting to a Johnstown power play. Defenseman Greg Gallagher threw the proverbial seemingly harmless seeing-eye wrister from the left point that floated by Ouzas and into the net for his second of the year at the 12:33 mark of the first. The Chiefs took their first lead of the game off the rush with 2:04 remaining in the first. Andy Contois carried with speed down the left wing side and fired a sharp-angle shot from deep on the left half wall. Ouzas appeared to be zeroed in on the shot, but it hit a hard spot on his glove and fluttered over his left shoulder into the net for the fifth goal of the season for Contois.

After a scoreless second, the Chiefs took a two goal lead (3-1) 4:56 into the third period on a odd man transition rush. Ryan Del Monte carried into the offensive zone on the right wing side and slid a pass through the lone Royals' defender back on the play to Contois, who was charging hard down the left wing side. Contois cut to the net and ripped a point blank blast; Ouzas responded with a great save, but the rebound bounced back onto the blade of Contois' stick; and he jammed the second shot through Ouzas for his second goal of the game. Reading cut the lead to one (3-2) when Mac Faulkner walked into the offensive zone on right wing side and fired a back-hander that snuck through Keserich for Faulkner's tenth of the year at the 12:34 mark of the third period.

Johnstown regained the two-goal lead with 2:56 remaining in the game with another power play goal. The Royals began to dig their own hole when Tyler Doig picked up two minor penalties-holding the stick and slashing-on the same play with dead-on six minutes remaining in the game. While trying to kill those two penalties off, the Royals picked up another penalty-this one a bench minor for too many men on the ice-which gave the Chiefs a full two minutes worth of 5-on-3. Although the Royals' PK dodged the five-on-three bullet, the Chiefs capitalized on the back-end of the Doig double minor, when Jarrett Konkle jammed in a loose puck in the Royals' crease for his sixteenth goal of the year. The Royals made one last-gasp effort, as Faulkner scored his second of the night (and team leading eleventh goal of the year) while playing with the late game man advantage (and with the goaltender pulled in favor of the sixth attacker) with just 7 seconds left in the game. But that would prove to be too little, too late; as the Royals ended the 2008 calendar year with the team's twenty-second regulation loss of the season.

Reading returns to action on Sunday (January 4, 2009 @ 1:05 pm) when the Dayton Bombers visit the Sovereign Center. Sunday's game will be broadcast live on the Royals Radio Network Presented by Transmissions by Arbogast (True Oldies WRAW 1340 am in Reading; and The Ticket WLAN 1390 am in Lancaster), as well as on the internet via webcast hosted by Sportsjuice.com, which can be accessed through the Royals website. To become a part of Royals hockey, call 610-898-PUCK or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

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ECHL Stories from December 31, 2008


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