KEELEY: MARINERS START NOVEMBER HOSTING READING 

BY: Michael Keeley, Maine Mariners

PORTLAND, ME – Oct. 30, 2018 – After two extremely busy weeks of games for the Maine Mariners, the month of November will begin on a lighter note with just a single home game against Reading this coming Friday. The Mariners finished up October 2-5-0-0, dropping both ends of their road trip this past weekend. November will feature ten games in total – six home and four away.

This past weekend
Fri, Oct. 26^th – MNE: 1, ADK: 3
The Mariners killed off a pair of early penalties and grabbed a 1-0 lead when Alex Kile drove to the net from the corner and stuffed home his 5^th goal of the season. Adirondack answered with quick strikes from Peter MacArthur and Mike Szmatula 42 seconds apart at the end of the period and that virtually decided the game. Connor Riley’s empty-net goal brought the final to 3-1. FULL GAME RECAP

Sat, Oct. 27^th – MNE: 2, MAN: 5
Manchester’s Nic Pierog and Maine’s Zach Tolkinen (PPG) traded goals in an opening period that was fairly even. The Mariners lost momentum early in the 2^nd when Nick Moutrey responded to a quick flurry of Maine chances with a tap-in goal to put the Monarchs back ahead. Pierog scored again followed by Spencer Watson before the period ended, putting the Monarchs in control of the game through two. Alex Kile scored for the sixth time in seven games on the power play in the third, but it was too little, too late. FULL GAME RECAP

Coming up
The Mariners lone game of the week welcomes the Reading Royals to the Cross Insurance Arena for the second time this season. The Royals are 3-1-1-2, and currently five points ahead of the Mariners (2-5-0-0) in the North Division standings. Game time is 7:30 PM, with doors opening at 6:30. As with every Friday, it’s a “1-2-3” night featuring $1 hot dogs $2 popcorn and $3 But Light Drafts through the start of the 2^nd period. It’s also “Hockey Fights Cancer” night, presented by Holiday Inn By the Bay. Griffin Cochrane, a four-year-old with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, will drop the puck. The Maine Cancer Foundation will be the “Stick Taps” organization of the night and have a table on the concourse. The Mariners will also kickoff their “Movember” campaign, in which players grow facial hair throughout the Month of November to raise money for men’s health – including prostate and testicular cancer research.