Lions claim victory in Reading

The Lions and Royals squared off Sunday afternoon for the third and final game of the teams’ three-games-in-three-days series at Santander Arena in Reading, with both squads registering one victory thus far. Starting in goal for the Lions was Étienne Montpetit while Matt Vernon was guarding the net for the Royals. Only one goal was scored in the first period, that coming off the stick of Reading’s Solag Bakich, who scored his first professional goal with the assist going to veteran Charlie Gerard.

Both teams ratcheted their offence up a notch in the second period, combining for 25 shots on goal (the Royals had 13 while the Lions had 12). Zach Kaiser came close to scoring his first goal with the Lions shortly into the period, but it was disallowed following an official review. Finally, at the 12:28 mark James Phelan got Trois-Rivières on the scoreboard with his fifth goal of the season.

The Lions doubled their lead to 2-1 early in the third period when Cole Gallant scored his second goal in less than 24 hours, coming off a splendid Phelan pass. Mason Millman then got the Royals level a few minutes later. The teams were forced to head to overtime with the game knotted at 2-2, but the extra frame resolved nothing, so up next was a shootout. It took the talented hands of the Lions’ Connor Welsh to solve matters, as his goal gave Trois-Rivières a 3-2 shootout win.