KEELEY: MARINERS PILE ON ROYALS EARLY FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT WIN
Mariners build a 5-0 lead and hang on in Reading
BY: Michael Keeley, Maine Mariners
READING, PA – February 20, 2019 – Five different Mariners had multi-point games, including the two newest members of the team in a 6-4 win over the Reading Royals on Wednesday night at the Santander Arena in PA. The Mariners won their fifth game in a row and improved to 3-0-0 on their road trip, which has two games remaining.
Maine scored the first five goals of the game, grabbing a 3-0 lead in the first. Making his Mariners debut, Blake Kessel set up a power-play goal at 3:05 of the first period when his shot from the blue line was cleaned up in front by Terrence Wallin. Kessel also created the second goal at 10:26 with a blast from the point that was deflected by fellow newcomer Taylor Cammarata. At 15:11, Cammarata spotted Greg Chase for a breakaway and Chase beat Andrew D’Agostini under the crossbar for a 3-0 Maine lead and the end of D’Agostini’s night.
Less than two minutes into the second period, Johnny McInnis scored his first Mariners goal to extend the lead to 4-0, burying his own rebound after Dillan Fox and Terrence Wallin worked hard to keep the puck in the attacking zone. At 3:12, Dwyer Tschantz scored for his third game in a row, set up by a nice pass from Wallin into the slot. Reading responded with two quick goals from Josh MacDonald and Tyler Brown, but at 8:45, Fox scored an unassisted goal to restore Mariners’ momentum. They led 6-2 through two.
The Royals outshot the Mariners 17-1 in the third and got two goals in the final 2:09, from Adam Schmidt and Joe Houk (power play). Connor LaCouvee finished the game with 30 saves to earn his 8th win. Devin Buffalo, in relief of D’Agostini, stopped 7 of 10 and was saddled with the loss. Wallin and Kessel finished with three points each, while Cammarata, Chase, and Fox each had two-point nights. Chase has 14 points (7 goals, 7 assists) in nine February games.
The Mariners jump over Worcester and into fifth place as the Railers fell in Manchester. Maine also gained ground on the top three teams in the North Division (Newfoundland, Adirondack, and Brampton) who were all idle tonight.
The Mariners will travel to Glens Falls, NY on Friday to continue their road trip with a game against the Adirondack Thunder. They will then visit Manchester on Saturday before returning to Portland on Sunday at 3:00 PM against the Worcester Railers. A full team autograph session will follow the game. Single game tickets can be purchased at MarinersofMaine.com or by visiting or calling the Trusted Choice Box Office: 207-775-3458.
