McCarthy and Roos set professional highs and Royals grab 5-4 win at Manchester

Manchester, NH – Chris McCarthy recorded a professional-best five points, Alex Roos scored a career-high four (2g) and Reading never trailed, outgunning the Manchester Monarchs, 5-4, Friday at SNHU Arena. McCarthy’s five points were one short of a team record. Callum Booth (4-0-0-0) faced ten shots in the third period and denied them all for a game total of 27 saves. Booth is the second Royals netminder to begin his Royals career with four straight wins, joining Branden Komm.

The Royals have won seven straight games for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

McCarthy and Roos each exploded in the first period; Reading scored four times in the opening frame and led, 4-2. McCarthy provided one goal and three assists in the opening 20 minutes. Roos doubled his point total to eight this season (3g) and had three points in the first. David Drake tallied his first professional goal at 5:20 of the first to open the scoring.Danny Tirone (loss, 9 saves, 10 shots) stepped in to start the second period for the Monarchs, replacing Chris Driedger (4 GA, 3 saves).

Neither team scored in the third period.Reading is at Worcester Saturday at 7:05 p.m. for the team’s final game before the holiday break. The Royals return from the break and are at home Fri., Dec. 28 and Sat., Dec. 29 for back-to-back games vs. the Newfoundland Growlers. APHILLYATION night is Dec. 29 as the Royals honor their affiliation with the Philadelphia Flyers. Four purple zone tickets are available at $15 each. Plus, an opportunity to high five the Royals players in our High Five Tunnel before the game by calling 610-898-7825!Box ScoreThe Royals and Monarchs combined for six goals on 14 shots in the first frame. Reading led, 4-2, after one. Drake started the scoring with a slap shot from the top of the left circle that sailed in far post, assisted by McCarthy and Roos.1:56 later, Roos scored his second pro goal with a high-slot shot that tricked Driedger on the glove hand again. MacDonald and McCarthy helped.After Manchester scored two minutes later, the Royals required 38 seconds to add insurance and make it 3-1. Triggered by a turnover from Manchester at their attacking line, Roos fed McCarthy. The Collegeville, PA native came in on the breakaway and trickled it through Driedger’s legs to make it 3-1 Reading at 10:01 of the frame. Each picked up their third point of the period. Manchester’s Cory Ward cut the Royals edge to one again with a power-play goal at 13:19 of the period.Reading completed the first with MacDonald’s 13th of the season, giving Reading a 4-2 advantage at 17:18 of the first. McCarthy netted his fourth point of the frame, cutting in on a two-on-one. He dished to the right post for MacDonald, who patiently waited for Driedger to fall down in desperation mode. Next, MacDonald lofted it over Driedger to re-extend to a two-goal edge.The Monarchs scored twice in the second period, with each goal cutting Reading’s lead to one. The Royals took a 5-4 advantage into the third Roos sandwiched his second of the night and fourth point between two Manchester tallies. With 6:05 remaining in the second, McCarthy backhanded a pass to Roos inside the right circle. Roos fired it through a screened Tirone. Manchester’s Daniil Miromanov ripped his second of the season with 1:07 left in the middle period.About the RoyalsThe Royals have been owned by serial entrepreneur Jack Gulati since 2014 and are entering their 18th ECHL season. Proudly affiliated with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Reading plays in the Santander Arena, located in downtown Reading, PA at 700 Penn Street. The Royals won the Kelly Cup in 2013, have made the playoffs in nine straight seasons and are four-time division champions.Listen to all Royals broadcasts at Mixlr.com/ReadingRoyals or by downloading the Mixlr App from the App Store or Google Play.