This upcoming season will mark the third time in Reading Royal’s history that they will face the Idaho Steelheads of the Mountain Division.
Back in the 2016-17 season, Reading faced Idaho for a three-game series, all of which were played on the road. The Royals lost two of their three games against Idaho with a 3-2 loss in their second game of the series and a 3-1 loss in their third game. The Royals were up against a rough start in their first game of the series going down two goals in the second period but tying it up before the period’s end. It was Mike Pereira who scored the winning goal that game, assisted by Chris McCarthy.
The first time the Royals ever faced the Steelheads was November 1st of the 2008-09 season when the home arena was still named the Sovereign Center. The Royals took a three goal lead in the first period of that game, with Idaho not getting on the board until the second period. Their lone goal was the only excitement of that period until 12:30 seconds into the third period, where they scored their second and final goal of the game after falling down one more goal to the Royals earlier that period. The Royals went on to win that game 6-2, but the high-scoring game wasn’t the only excitement. The game saw 18 total penalties evenly split between the two teams with two separate fighting majors. Surely a heated start to this duos first meeting.
With the Royals having two wins and two losses against the Steelheads, the question for this upcoming season becomes, will the Royals take their third win in another heated battle, or will they fall to the team that recorded the most points in a season in ECHL history?
