WORCESTER, MA – December 11, 2021 – After a rough opening period, the Mariners battled through the final 40 minutes to give the Worcester Railers all they could handle on Friday night at the DCU Center. Their comeback effort fell a goal short, however as Worcester, led by captain Jordan Smotherman’s hat trick, claimed a 4-2 victory over Maine.
Worcester built up a 3-0 lead in the opening period, thanks to a 20-1 shot advantage. At 8:17, Brent Beaudoin set off the Railers’ Teddy Bear Toss when he finished off a puck that trickled between the pads of Callum Booth off a shot from Reese Newkirk. A pair of goals by Smotherman followed, at 9:30 and 17:38 to open the Worcester lead.
It remained 3-0 until the late stages of the 2nd period, when the Mariners began showing signs of life. A power play goal by Jake Bricknell got the Mariners on the board at 15:32, a wrist shot from the right circle, set up by Westin Michaud and Jason Horvath. Just a minute later, a nifty redirect by Andrew Romano on a shot by Marc-Olivier Duquette suddenly cut the Railers lead to 3-2. It was a one-goal game heading into the third.
The Mariners turned up the pressure in the final minutes of the third period and came close to tying the game, but Smotherman slid one into an empty net at 18:44 to complete his hat trick. Booth left the game midway through the second period with an injury, and Jeremy Brodeur stopped all 13 shots he faced in relief. In the Railers net, Jimmy Poreda made 15 stops to earn his first professional win. The home team has now won all seven games between the Mariners and Railers this season.
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