Booth, Royals march past Thunder, 3-1

Reading, PA – Callum Booth made 27 saves and the Reading Royals tallied three goals in the second period to spike the Adirondack Thunder, 3-1, Wednesday at Santander Arena.  The win gives Reading points in seven straight home games (6-0-0-1). The Thunder had a season-long nine-game point streak snapped.

Booth made 13 saves in the final frame, allowing Adirondack's lone goal to John Edwardh with fewer than two minutes left.Reading opened the scoring with a couple of power-play goals; Adam Schmidt struck with three minutes gone in the middle period and Frank DiChiara ripped his ninth of the season to give Reading its second man-up goal six minutes later. Reading went 2-for-4 on the power play. Josh MacDonald rounded out the second-period effort with a back-door, right-post slam home in the final three minutes of the second.Dillon Kelley took his first ECHL loss, denying 23 shots.

The Royals are back at home on Wed., Jan. 9 at 7:00 p.m. vs. Adirondack, featuring a postgame player autograph session pres. by Rieck’s Printing. Tickets are $5 on college night! Visit http://bit.ly/Jan9College and enter a valid college email address to access.Box ScoreIn a scoreless first period, Reading out-shot the Thunder, 10-8.  Reading turned on its engines in the second with a man-up goal at 2:38. Nick Luukko shot it from the right point and it nicked off Michael Huntebrinker and Schmidt to trickle past the right goal line.

Next, with 11:20 to go in the second, Frank DiChiara smacked home a pass to slot, assisted by Schmidt and the Goumas. Standing at the left post, Schmidt stoked a pass to DiChiara at the slot. Kevin Goumas had the secondary helper.Scott Dornbrock created the next goal; he drifted behind cage, swooped to the right post and dipped it to MacDonald for a one-timer and strike at 17:00 of the second. Chris McCarthy garnered the secondary assist.Adirondack went 1-for-6 on the power play and the Thunder scored its only goal with 1:46 left on a toe-drag and shot from Edwardh.

Reading is on the road Fri., Jan. 11 at Manchester for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop.

The Royals host three home games next week, starting Wed., Jan. 16 at 7:00 p.m. vs. Manchester with postgame player autographs, pres. by Rieck’s Printing. On Fri., Jan. 18 at 7:00 p.m., the Royals battle Brampton on Pucks ‘N Paws Night with the annual wiener dog races. Sat., Jan. 19 against Wheeling (7:00 p.m.) is a Family Four Pack game, Mascot Mania and Reading’s Pediatric Cancer Awareness game with a mini-THON dance party. Get four burgers, four sodas and four sodas for $48. The first 2,500 fans will receive a PA Lottery Voucher, pres., by the PA Lottery. Plus, enter for a chance to win a 2017 Toyota Camry, courtesy of AutoRide of Reading. After the game, join Royals players at the DoubleTree across the street for a party at Cheers! Restaurant. 

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.