DiChiara scores winner in wild 3rd, 5-4

DiChiara scores game-winning goal in wild 3rd to spike Mariners, 5-4

Reading, PA– Reading Royals forward Frank DiChiara scored his 4th goal of the season with 13:07 to go in the third period and the Royals survived the Maine Mariners, 5-4, Sunday at Santander Arena. The win moved the Royals to 2-2-1-0 (5 pts.). Ralph Cuddemi registered his second multi-goal game of the season with a pair of tallies, including a third-period marker that provided Reading a 4-3 advantage. Kirill Ustimenko picked up his first win in North American with 18 saves, including a last-second denial on Maine forward Ty Ronning.The Royals led twice - 3-0 and 4-3 – but the Mariners forged a pair of comebacks to even the score. Dillan Fox scored 15 seconds after Cuddemi with 15:29 to go to make it a 4-4 game.Following the tying effort, Garrett Mitchell snapped a pass to DiChiara at the right circle and he unleashed a top-shelf shot over Connor LaCouvee (L, 30/35) to give the Royals the lead for good.Reading is on the road at Wheeling (BCTV broadcast) Sat., Oct. 26 at 7:05 p.m. The next Royals home game is Oct. 31 vs. Newfoundland at 7:00 p.m., featuring $1 pumpkin beer and a free candy bag to the first 1,000 kids. Reading is also home for the team’s first-ever D.C. Comics night Sat., Nov. 2 at 7:00 p.m., with Reading (Batman jerseys) facing Norfolk (Joker), a D.C. puck giveaway and a character appearances from Batman and Joker. The 2019-20 season is pres. by Tower Health UPMC Health Plan.Single-game tickets and mini-plans are on sale by visiting royalshockey.com/promotions, calling 610-898-7825 and visiting Santander Arena and The Weidenhammer Box Office at 700 Penn Street, Reading, PA.Box Score3-0 edge The Royals struck twice in the opening three minutes and Reading held a 10-5 shots advantage through 20. Matthew Gaudreau factored in with helpers on both goals. First, he intercepted a pass and fed Trevor Yates (2nd of season) at 1:23 of the first. Next, 1:24 later, Gaudreau received the secondary assist on Ralph Cuddemi’s power-play marker. Eric Knodel took the primary assist, slap-passing it to the right doorstep to Cuddemi.Knodel scored Reading’s second power-play tally with a 5-on-3 strike and 6:16 elapsed in the second. He slammed it from the deep slot to the top shelf, with a helper from Frank DiChiara. The Mariners scored three times before the end of the second to tie it.6 on itSix Royals registered multi-point games and Matthew Gaudreau topped the Royals with three assists. Trevor Yates, Ralph Cuddemi, Frank DiChiara, Eric Knodel and Garrett Mitchell each had two points. Reading’s power play went 2-for-7 and all those players received a point on the man up. Reading has scored seven power-play tallies on 19 chances this season. Maine was 2-for-5 on the man up.First home winThe Royals picked up their first home win of the season and are 1-1-0-0 at Santander Arena this campaign. This weekend featured a special Downtown Alive concert, food & beverage specials, a postgame skate and two giveaways. Reading won 16 home games last season.About the RoyalsThe Royals are entering their 19th ECHL season and are proudly affiliated with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Royals won the Kelly Cup in 2013, have made the playoffs 14 times, and are four-time division champions. The Berks County Convention Center Authority (BCCCA), founded in 1996, owns the Royals and oversees operations at Santander Arena and the Santander Arena Performing Arts Center.Listen to all Royals broadcasts at Mixlr.com/ReadingRoyals or by downloading the Mixlr App from the App Store or Google Play. All Royals away games are broadcasted on BCTV (Ch. 15 Comcast, Ch. 19 Service Electric) and Mixlr.