It was a busy last week of the first half of the season as the Worcester Railers Jr.Hockey Club’s EHL team played four games.

They came out with an even split, winning their first and last games of the week. 

The week started with a showcase hosted by the Connecticut Chiefs at Newington Arena. The Railers played three games, all against opponents they had not faced this season, but were only able to come away with one win. 

They beat New York Apple Core 3-2 on Tuesday and then lost 6-2 to the Connecticut RoughRiders on Wednesday and were defeated by Team Maryland 5-4 on Thursday. Worcester finished the week off on a high note however, winning 6-3 over the New England Wolves Saturday.

The Railers are now off for holiday break and will return to the ice Thursday January 6th when they will host the Valley Jr. Warriors at home to begin the second half of the season. 

In their first game against the Apple Core, the Railers started off strong getting two first period goals from Ben McGlashing (Arlington, MA) and Damon Dulac (Quebec City, QUE) to take a 2-0 lead. 

Jack Lee

The Apple Core got one back, but late in the second period Jack Lee (Chicago, IL) extended the Railers win to 3-1. New York again cut the lead to one, but the combination of the Railers defense and goaltending by Stefan Kulhanek (Wein, AUT) helped keep the Apple Core off the board in the third giving the Railers the 3-2 win.

The Railers had a tough go around in their next game as they found themselves in a 6-0 hole early on that they could not dig themselves out of. 

Late in the second Worcester cut the lead to 6-2 on two goals from Matt Lombardi (Hudson, MA) and Mike DiMascolo (Cranston, RI) but that is all the offense they would get as they fell in this one. 

Worcester tried to rebound against Team Maryland the following day and it was a back and forth battle the entire game. 

Colin Roe

The Railers found themselves battling back to tie the game on four separate occasions. The first period was highlighted by two goals by Colin Roe (Hyde Park, MA) and with 55 seconds remaining in the first half, Charlie Addesa (Andover, MA) tied the game at three.

Maryland took a 4-3 lead early in the second period, but the Railers once again came back to tie the game on a goal by Dulac. 

With minutes left in the game, Maryland took the 5-4 lead and held on sending the Railers to their second straight loss. 

The Railers regrouped Saturday when they took on the New England Wolves for their final game of 2021.

Tyler Anastasi

Trailing 1-0 late in the second, Tyler Anastasi (Andover, MA) got the Railers on the board with power play goal to tie the game.

That sparked the Railers offense and they went on to score five third period goals. Anastasi got it going with his second power play goal of the game, followed by goals by Addesa, DiMascolo, Jack Lee and captain Matt Pimental (East Providence, RI) to end the Railers first half on a high note.