Reading Royals fans were met with the news this week of the retirement of one of their star players from the past two seasons. Though his legacy has come to an end, Reading will never forget the great effort he put forth when defending the net.
Over the past two seasons, the Reading Royals have looked upon goalie Pat Nagle to help in their quests to victory. During his first season with the Royals, Nagle made an appearance in 17 games after spending time up with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. In those 17 games, Nagle had a GAA of 2.41 and a .925 SV%. He maintained a 11-3-3 record through the regular season until the Royals moved on to the postseason. During the playoffs of 2021-22, Nagle played in seven games receiving a 3-4-0 record before the Royals were eliminated by the Newfoundland Growlers. That initial season, he made quite the impact on Royals’ fans as the experienced goalie truly shined for the team. There was never a game when he came out of the lion’s head as a starting goaltender that the crowd wouldn’t cheer so loud and ring their cowbells until your ears rang. Every save Nagle made, the crowd was sure to let him hear about it.
When Nagle made his return this past season, it was no surprise that fans were more than excited to have him back. He spent time up with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms throughout the season, but not without spending 28 games down with the Royals. Nagle acquired a GAA of 2.61 and a SV% of .908 over the regular season. When the regular reason ended, he attained a record of 21-7-0. Once the playoffs began, Nagle had a longer stretch than the previous season, appearing in 10 games and having a record of 5-3-2. There was a heavy sense over the crowd when the season ended that pointed towards the potential of Nagle’s career coming to an end, but Royals’ fans, of course, stayed hopeful that maybe they would see him in net for just one more season. The news was hard for most, but acceptance and good luck were quick to follow the news.
Reading Royals fans thank Pat Nagle for all that he’s done for the team and hope the memories he shared playing in the small city he’ll carry with him as he moves on to his next journey.
