(READING, Pa.) – Keaton Mastrodonato paced five multi-point producers with a pair of goals, including the game-winner at 3:35 of overtime to give the Greenville Swamp Rabbits a split of their weekend set with a 6-5 win over the Reading Royals on Saturday night. Through two games of their franchise record 11-game road trip, the Swamp Rabbits are 1-1-0-0.

Both teams traded blows in a wild opening period that featured five total goals, with Reading taking a 3-2 lead into the intermission. Ryan O’Hara got the Swamp Rabbits on the board at 3:49, but was answered by Reading’s Garrett Devine 14 seconds later to square the game at 1-1 4:03 into the game. Dante Sheriff then buried a Hudson Schandor pass off of a transition play up the ice, giving the Swamp Rabbits a 2-1 lead at 7:34  of the first. However, the Royals struck twice six minutes apart to take the lead: Jacob Frasca tied the game at 2-2 when Massimo Rizzo stole the puck up the wall and found him in the slot, then was followed by a Vincent Sevigny blue line shot following Reading’s only power play of the game that skipped by Isaiah Saville, making it 3-2 with 2:37 to play in the first.

The Swamp Rabbits took over in the second period, beginning with Wade Murphy’s strike early. Just 74 seconds in, Sheriff stuck with a bouncing puck in neutral ice and got just enough leverage to get a pass of to Murphy, who broke in all alone and deked out Keith Petruzzelli in the Royals net to square the game at 3-3. Brent Pedersen then broke through to give the lead back to the Swamp Rabbits with 8:40 left in the second, hacking away at a multitude of bounces in the net front, eventually slipping one by Petruzzelli’s glove to make it a 4-3 lead heading into the third. 

Two former Swamp Rabbits struck back quickly to overtake their former team, before Mastrodonato started his hot streak to end the game. At 4:31, Brandon Saigeon won a faceoff back to Austin Saint, who fired a seeing eye shot from the blue line that whizzed over Saville’s shoulder, tying the game at 4-4. Kyle Haskins followed up later when a turnover turned into a passing sequence, with him stationed in front of the net to knock home a rebound, putting the Royals back in the driver’s seat at 5-4 with 7:40 to play. Mastrodonato then made his presence felt, tying the game with his first of two. With 5:32 to go, Cole Fraser rocketed a puck up in the neutral zone that was redirected by Kenta Isogai to Mastrodonato, who in turn found O’Hara with space. O’Hara outlasted Petruzzelli and slipped the puck to the middle, with Mastrondato slamming it home to tie the game at 5-5, eventually forcing overtime. 

At 3:35 of overtime, Tim Lovell found Hudson Schandor streaking through neutral ice, creating a two-on-one with him and Mastrodonato. Schandor deferred to Mastrodonato, who blasted home his second of the game, giving him his third overtime winner of the season in his fifth multi-goal game of the year, and the Swamp Rabbits a 6-5 win.

Isaiah Saville stopped 15 of 20 shots, claiming the win (8-7-0-1).

The Swamp Rabbits now transition their 11-game road trip to Florida, where they’ll take on the Everblades on March 4^th and March 6^th. Puck drop for both Wednesday and Friday is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Hertz Arena.

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About the Greenville Swamp Rabbits …
Acquired by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) in 2020, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hockey team have been providing family friendly, live entertainment at Bon Secours Wellness Arena since 2010. Formerly the Greenville Road Warriors, the Swamp Rabbits are the highest-level professional minor league franchise in South Carolina. The Swamp Rabbits are the proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL's LA Kings and the AHL's Ontario Reign. Greenville is a member of the ECHL, Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League.