READING, Pennsylvania – Yannick Tifu’s second period goal proved to be the game winner as the Reading Royals (42-18-3-3) hung on to beat the Cincinnati Cyclones (40-18-5-3) by a 3-2 final score in front of 5,863 at Sovereign Center on Saturday night.
The Cyclones jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Mathieu Aubin buried his own rebound past Riley Gill (W, 32 saves, 7-2-0) at the 5:56 mark. Unfortunately, the Royals power play answered back at 16:12 as Stanislav Galiev one-timed a slap shot under Michael Houser (L, 18 saves, 15-6-1-1) to even things at one after 20 minutes.
The Royals potted a pair of goals in a five-minute span to open the middle frame as Robbie Bourdon and Yannick Tifu each lit the lamp to give Reading a 3-1 edge. The Cyclones, however, answered back late in the period as Mattias Lindstrom cut out from behind the net and lifted home his 4th of the season at 17:44 to pull his team within a goal at the second intermission.
In the third period, both teams continued to stay strong defensively to the very end – forcing the Cyclones to pull Houser for an extra attacker. Despite a couple of great late-game chances, Gill and the Royals kept Cincinnati from lighting the lamp and held on for a 3-2 win.
