Reading, PA — Following their win last night, the Norfolk Admirals traveled to Reading for the second of three contests against the Royals. Norfolk battled hard but ultimately fell 7–3 on Saturday night.
Alex Worthington made his 13th start in goal for Norfolk, stopping 11 of 14 shots, while Christian Propp, making his second appearance of the season, recorded 17 saves on 20 shots.
Three goals came in the opening three minutes of the game. Just 36 seconds in, the Royals struck first as Hunter Johannes beat Worthington on the glove side. Norfolk answered immediately: 15 seconds later, Ben Zloty fired a shot from the blue line off an offensive-zone faceoff that deflected off Kristóf Papp’s stick, tying the game at 1–1 and marking Papp’s third goal of the season.
A little over a minute later, former Admiral Carson Golder restored Reading’s lead with a point shot, making it 2–1. After the early flurry, play settled down, with Norfolk generating several scoring chances despite being outshot 12–9 in the first period.
Just 54 seconds into the second, Brady Fleurent tied it again, finishing a tic-tac-toe sequence with Grant Hebert and Kevin Conley to score his eighth goal of the season. Five minutes later, Carter Berger gave Reading a 3–2 lead, beating Worthington top-side and prompting a goalie change for Norfolk. Two minutes after that, Brandon Osmundson responded for Norfolk, finishing a feed from Jack O’Leary for his seventh goal of the season.
The back-and-forth continued as Johannes netted his second of the evening just 23 seconds later, giving Reading the lead once again. Later in the period, Reading extended their advantage to two goals when Alec Butcher finished a rebound past Norfolk goalie Propp to make it 5–3. After forty minutes, Reading held the lead, outshooting Norfolk 15–11.
The Royals made it 6-3 about eight minutes into the third period as they capitalized on a power play goal following a penalty on Brady Fleurent. Reading added an empty net goal in the final minutes of play as Johannes completed his hat trick.
Sentara Three Stars of the Game
1. REA - H. Johannes (3 goals, +2)
2. REA - C. McMenamin (2 assists, +3)
3. REA - B. Meehan (2 assists, +1)
Next Up
The Admirals and Royals square off for a final time this weekend as they’ll be inside Santander Arena tomorrow afternoon for a 3 p.m. puck drop.
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