PORTLAND, Me- Maines newest expansion team, the Maine Mariners hockey club, played their second game in franchise history Friday night at the Cross Insurance Arena. The visiting Reading Royals weren’t gracious guests however, picking up a 6-4 East Coast Hockey League victory.
Maine (0-2) started off solidly getting a rebound goal from Terrence Wallin just over halfway through the opening period to take a 1-0 lead. Starting goalie Chris Nell was also solid in the opening frame with 10 saves.
Maine went up 2-0 just 1:20 into the middle period when Alex Kile scored on the powerplay to double the Mariners lead 2-0. Reading though got on the board just 2:11 later when Adam Schmidt scored. The goal would start a barrage of five goals in a row for the Royals. After the Mariners Morgan Adams-Moisan picked up a double minor penalty and a game misconduct at 11:38, Reading tied it on powerplay at 15:19 when Nick Luuko scored his first goal of the year.
Late in the period, the Royals took their first lead on a beautiful tip-in goal by Josh McDonald in front of Mariners goalie Nell to make it 3-2 with just 1:24 to go in the second. With just 1.6 seconds left, Reading went up a pair of goals on a Shane Walsh marker.
The visitors continued to add on as Brayden Low scored 30 seconds into the third period to make it 5-2, finishing a flurry of three goals in just 1:54 of action. Maine wasn’t done however. After a Derek Pratt goal made it 5-3, Garrett Cecere brought the crowd to their feet with a great second effort to make it 5-4 with still 8:33 to play. Ceceres initial shot was blocked, but he got it back and spun just outside the faceoff circles and sent a wrister that found the back of the net. With the goalie pulled late for an extra attacker for the Mariners and still down a goal, Readings Michael Huntebrinker picked up a loose puck beside his own goal and sent one the length of the ice that found the cage with 1:18 left to help the Royals improve to 2-0-1 on the season.
Nell ended with 27 saves on 32 shots in the loss in the Mariners net. Reading starter Brandon Komm made 30 saves on 34 shots in the win. Maine was 1-6 on the powerplay, while Reading was 1-5.
Maine, who is the Double A affiliate of the New York Rangers, will next faceoff with the Worcester Railers Saturday night at Worcester. The Reading Royals are the affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, and their roster includes former University of Maine captain Steven Swavely who came into Friday nights game with a goal and an assist so far, and did not figure into any of the scoring against the Mariners.
