The New Jersey Titans defeated the division’s top ranked team in the Maryland Black Bears by a score of 4-2 on Friday night at the Middletown Sports Complex. For the third consecutive game between the two teams, the Titans were able to earn a 2-0 lead. First, it was Jack Hillier took a Kyle Kim pass and drove towards the goal, netting his 11th of the season. The Sacred Heart commit now has a 10 game point streak, with 5 goals and 9 assists in that span. Matej Teply picked up the other helper, and New Jersey got the start they wanted. Dominik Bartecko scored his 20th of the year halfway through the period, assisted by Hillier and Nikita Meshcheryakov. Then, the Titans did what they could not do in their previous weekend against the Black Bears, when Logan Renkowski made it 3-0 with less than 2 minutes ago, giving New Jersey their first 3 goal lead against Maryland all season. Ryan Novo and Lucas Marshall assisted on Renkowski’s 10th of the year, sending the Titans into the first intermission with the lead.
Maryland fought back in the second period, scoring a pair to draw within one, including a power play goal. Armed with a power play themselves, Renkowski again found the back of the net with a one timer from the point for his second of the game and 11th of the season, giving the Titans some breathing room. The third period was characterized by solid defense and continuous play, as they teams only combined for 11 shots in the frame. Zak Brice stood tall for New Jersey, stopping 30 of 32 shots for his 14th win of the season, and the Titans delighted the home crowd with a 4-2 victory.
New Jersey sees their record improve to 25-20-3, with 12 games remaining in their season. They will face the Black Bears for the final time in the regular season tomorrow, Saturday March 2nd, at 7:00pm at the Middletown Sports Complex. Tickets to the game may be purchased by following this link.