The Reading Royals (34-14-6-2) were defeated 5-2 Sunday afternoon at the Santander Arena against the Adirondack Thunder (25-31-2).
In the first period, Royals forward Thomas Ebbing (22) put the Royals up 1-0 with under four minutes left in the first period. Garrett Cecere and Jared Brandt assisted Ebbing’s goal.
With less than a minute left, Thunder forward Shane Harper (17) tied the game 1-1 with assists from Luke Stevens and Ivan Chukarov.
A minute and nine seconds into the second period, the Thunder took a 2-1 lead by Nick Rivera (13) with assists from Sebastian Vidmar and Ryan Smith. Then at 6:24, Jacob Pritchard (16) tied the game 2-2 with assists from Kenny Hausinger and Mason Millman.
Twenty-nine seconds into the third period, Shane Harper (18) scored his second goal of the game that put the Thunder back up 3-2 with an assist from Luke Stevens. At 9:28, Matt Baker (1) made it 4-2 with an assist from Ryan Smith.
Finally, with under three minutes left, Patrick Grasso (22) scored the game’s final goal to make it 5-2 with an assist by Sebastian Vidmar.
The Royals finished the afternoon with 32 shots, 0/3 on the power-play, and Hayden Hawkey made 16 of 20 saves.
The Royals play the Worcester Railers for two games starting Tuesday at 7 pm. Tickets can be purchased courtesy of our friends at StubHub.
