Royals hold on to earn point in 2-1 overtime loss to Railers

Reading, PA - Steven Swavely scored the lone goal for the Reading Royals (37-24-9-0, 83 pts. 3rd North) midway through the second period to tie the contest and force overtime, picking up a point in a 2-1 loss to the Worcester Railers (36-26-4-4 80pts. 4th North) Wednesday at Santander Arena. Former Royals forward Barry Almeida tallied on the first shot of the extra session earning two points for the Railers.

Swavely has scored in back-to-back games and Adam Schmidt and Ryan Penny assisted. Schmidt has points in 11 of the last 12 games. Branden Komm stopped 33 shots in regulation while Mitch Gilliam won his fifth straight game (30 saves).

Worcester earned the first tally early in the second period on a goal from Matthew Gaudreau before Swavely answered to keep the game deadlocked at one after 40 minutes of play. Almeida had the deciding goal for Worcester 1:30 into overtime.

Box Score

Worcester led in shots 15-10 after a scoreless first period and outshot Reading in the game, 34-31. Both teams were 0-for-1 on the power play.

The first-strike goal came 3:44 into the middle frame on a Railers odd-man rush. Almeida took a shot on Komm who made the initial kick save before Gaudreau finished the rebound to take the 1-0 lead.

An offensive-zone face-off effort knotted the game at one 13:04 into the second period. Schmidt shot from along the goal line to the left of Gillam. The puck took an odd bounce and was helped to the back of the net by Swavely.

Midway through the third, Matt Willows chased down a puck into Worcester’s crease and collided with the rookie netminder Gillam. Frankie DiChiara grabbed Willows for a dance. Each sat for a 5:00 fighting major and Willows sat an additional 2:00 for goaltender interference. It is Willows' second career fighting major with Reading.