Thunder to meet Monarchs in North Division Finals

The Adirondack Thunder defeated the Worcester Railers 3-1 on Monday in Game 6 of their North Division Semifinals series. With the win, the Thunder advance to meet the Manchester Monarchs in the North Division Finals.

Paul Rodrigues opened the scoring for the Thunder 8:27 into the opening period only to see the Railers pull even less than a minute on a Barry Almeida tally. Adirondack went ahead for good in the closing seconds of the first period on a Desmond Bergin goal. Mike Szmatula set the final with an empty-net goal with 44 seconds remaining in regulation.

Brian Ward led Adirondack in the series with four goals and five points. Mackenzie Blackwood earned the first three wins for the Thunder before Olivier Mantha notched the win in the series clincher.

Worcester was led by Nick Saracino, who had five points (3g-2a) in the six games.

This will be the third straight year that Adirondack and Manchester meet in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. The Thunder won 4 games to 1 in the 2016 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals while the Monarchs prevailed 4 games to 2 in the 2017 North Division Semifinals.

Click here to view the complete schedule and results from the 2018 Kelly Cup Playoffs.