Ryan Novo scored with 3:26 remaining in the game to break a 4 – 4 tie and lead the Titans to a 6 – 4 win over the visiting Northeast Generals to split the weekend series between the teams. It was Novo’s second goal of the game and third point of the evening.
Coming off a shootout win the previous night, the Generals looked to sweep the Titans on the road, and they started the first period off on the right skate.
Brendan Dumas was called for cross-checking just 1:13 into the game to give the Generals the man advantage. As the powerplay was expiring, Andrew DellaDonna scored his first goal of the contest to give Northeast an early 1 – 0 lead. Northeast’s Ryan Schelling started the play when he picked up the loose puck at the Titans near side corner and skated towards the faceoff circle and made a cross—ice pass Ryan Remick who took a wrist shot from the far side faceoff dot that was blocked out front but the rebound came right out to DellaDonna on the doorstep and the forward jammed the puck past Zak Brice and into the net.
Northeast doubled their lead with 5:08 left in the opening period. The Generals’ Paul Minnehan stripped Titans defenseman Brian Robertson off the puck at the top of the far side faceoff circle and made a cross-ice pass to Jared Scott. Scott made a backhanded centering pass to David Andreychuk in the slot, and Andreychuck took a wrist shot that beat Brice for his tenth goal of the season.
Ben Muthersbaugh cut the Titans deficit in half with 3:13 remaining in the period. Reese Brednich picked up the loose puck at the near side half wall in the offensive zone and he passed it back to Muthersbaugh at the point who immediately sent a cross-ice pass along the blueline to Eric Charpentier. The Dartmouth commit passed the biscuit to Brendan Dumas at the top of the slot, and Dumas passed it over to Muthersbaugh just inside the near side faceoff circle, and Muthersbaugh took a clapper that beat Generals goalie Cullen DeYoung short side for Muthersbaugh’s team high twelfth goal of the season.
Muthersbaugh goal caused it to rain … teddy bears that is. Upon Muthersbaugh’s goal had the over 450 in attendance throw more than 300 bears on the ice which were picked up by the Titans mite team and now will be donated to the Toys for Tots.
Novo scored his first goal of the night at 3:53 into the middle stanza to knot the score at two. After Sylas Oberting sent a return pass back to Ethan Wongus at the near side point, “Wongo” passed the puck over to Robertson just inside the far side circle, and the Titans defenseman took a shot that was saved by DeYoung, but the rebound came right out to Novo who deposited into the back of the net for his then fourth goal of the season.
DellaDonna scored his second goal of the game at the 8:24 mark of the period off a wrist shot in the slot that beat Brice high glove-side to make it a 3 – 2 game.
At 9:17 of the middle stanza Scott was called for cross-checking to give the Titans the man advantage. As the powerplay was getting ready to expire Brednich tied the game at three. After Brednich won the draw deep inside the Generals zone, the puck went back to Muthersbaugh at the far side half wall and he made a cross-ice pass to Dominick Bartecko at the near side point. Bartecko sent a return pass to Muthersbaugh who took a shot that was deflected out front by Brednich and past DeYoung for Brednich’s third goal of the season.
The Generals regained their final lead of the evening with 8:35 remaining in the second when Minnehan scored off a wrist shot in the slot that beat Brice glove side for Minnehan’s twelfth goal of the season.
Anthony Calafiore, who was playing in his 125 career NAHL game, tied the game at 2:15 into the third. After Ben Yurchuk stripped the Generals’ Matthew DeSpirt off the puck along the boards at center ice, Yurchuk gained the offensive zone on a three-on-one. As Yurchuk reached the far side faceoff dot, he passed it over to Calafiore on his right and the Titans captain redirected the biscuit past DeYoung for his eleventh goal of the season.
As the third period was winding down and the possibility of the game going into another overtime with the Generals, Novo scored his second goal of the game with 3:26 left in the contest to eliminate that possibility.
Wongus picked up the loose puck inside his own zone and passed it up to Novo at center ice along the near side boards. Novo made a backhanded passed to Marcus Sang in the neutral zone. As Sang gained the line, he made a centering pass from the end of the far side faceoff dot to a wide open and unattended Novo in the slot, and the Army commit redirected the puck past DeYoung and into the net to give the Titans their first lead of the night and make it a 5 – 4 game.
Brednich scored his second goal of the game – an empty netter – with fourteen seconds remaining to close out the scoring and make it 6 – 4.
Brice stopped 24 of 28 shots while DeYoung turned aside 40 of 45. Click here for the complete box score.
Oddly enough, the Titans win was the first time in eight games played between the teams this season that the home team won a game. The Red Buckets have won all four games in Attleboro while the Generals had won three at the Middletown Sports Complex.
The Titans will be on the road next weekend to face the Johnstown Tomahawks for the first time this season. It will be their last series before the Christmas break.