SANTOS SCORES TWICE AS MARINERS TOP ROYALS ON THANKSGIVING EVE

PORTLAND, ME – November 23, 2022 – A pair of goals by Mathew Santos fueled the offense in a 5-3 Mariners victory on Wednesday night over the Reading Royals at the Cross Insurance Arena. Maine snapped a four game home losing streak and picked up a point in their third game in a row as Michael DiPietro won his Mariners debut in net.

Maine’s Tim Doherty opened the scoring just 39 seconds in, finishing a pass from below the goal line by Pat Shea for his fourth of the season. The Royals had a relatively quick response at 2:20 when Garrett McFadden’s shot from the point found its way through DiPietro. The line of Mathew Santos, Nick Master, and Alex-Olivier Voyer then struck twice to put the Mariners back in front. At 8:30 of the period, Santos found a rebound in the slot and beat the glove of Justin Kapelmaster, also debuting for Reading. Another Santos shot made its way through at 11:20, which Voyer cleaned up to stretch the lead to 3-1, which was the score through 20 minutes.

Special teams dominated the second period. The Royals were awarded a lengthy 5-on-3 midway through the period and Trey Bradley cashed in on a cross crease pass at 9:42 to pull Reading back within a goal. Late in the frame, after back-to-back delay of game calls on Reading, Santos streaked down the right side and lifted one over Kapelmaster to answer with a Mariners two-man advantage tally of their own. During the second penalty, Bradley broke away shorthanded and backhanded one between the pads of DiPietro with just 11 seconds left to close the gap back to one heading to the third.

The game was interrupted midway through the third when a pane of glass was broken between the penalty boxes, delaying proceedings for about 15 minutes. After play resumed, the Mariners killed a late penalty, and added an empty net goal from Shea to seal the win. Santos finished with three points while Master and Shea registered two each. DiPietro made 28 stops to earn his first victory while Kapelmaster turned aside 29 of 33. The Royals win streak came to an end, at six games.

The Mariners (6-7-1-0) take on the Royals again on Friday night at 7:15 PM for “Soccer Night” and a 1-2-3 Friday: $1 candy, $2 popcorn, and $3 Bud Light drafts until the start of the 2nd period. The Newfoundland Growlers come in on Saturday at 6 PM for Star Wars Night to complete the homestand. Individual game tickets can be purchased online, at the Ware-Butler Box Office inside the Cross Insurance Arena, or by calling 207-775-3458. Family Four Packs are available for all Saturday and Sunday games and can be purchased here. Season-long ticket plans are also still available. More information on ticketing options is available by calling 833-GO-MAINE, emailing mariners-sales@comcastspectacor.com, or by visiting MarinersOfMaine.com.