Nick Seitz scored two goals and Louden Hogg recorded his first NAHL shutout as the New Jersey Titans defeated the visiting Northeast Generals 5 – 0 in the first of this weekend’s two game series between the teams.
With 9:11 remaining in the opening period, captain Jake Suede put the Titans on the board with the eventual game winner. After the media timeout and the ensuing draw inside the Generals zone, Suede squared off against Northeast’s Jake Dunlap at the far side faceoff circle. Suede won the draw and took a wrist shot that beat Generals’ goalie Anton Castro long side for his ninth goal of the season.
Seitz doubled the Titans lead with his first goal of the game with forty-five seconds remining in the period. After Hogg made a stick save off a sharp angle shot from the Generals’ Tyler Cooper, the deep rebound was picked up by Northeast’s Alexander Tertyshny who started to circle back to the blueline to set up a play. As Tertyshny started skating towards the far side boards, he left a drop pass to Cooper, but Seitz poke checked the puck off Cooper’s stick and skated in all alone on a breakaway and took a wrist shot that beat Castro low blocker side for his tenth goal of the season.
Matt Doyle made it 3 – 0 with 2:47 into the second with a howitzer. With the puck inside the Generals far side corner, the biscuit bounced off the linesman and picked up by Blake Humphrey who sent the puck back to Cade Penney at the point. As Penney started to skate up the boards towards the half wall, he sent a pass back to Doyle at the point and Doyle took a bomb that beat Castro high glove side for his third goal of the season.
Humphrey made it 4 – 0 midway through the middle stanza. After Penney broke up the play in his own zone, Doyle picked up the loose puck and passed it up to Humphrey who made a shuttle pass to Penney breaking on his left. As Penney gained the Generals line on a 3-on-1, he passed the puck to Humphrey on his right and the Syracuse, NY native took a wrist shot that beat Castro short side for his seventh goal of the season.
Seitz closed out the scoring with 8:24 left in the second. After Zach Nazzarett picked up the loose puck at center ice, he passed the biscuit back to Tyler Nasca at the top of his own slot. Nasca looked to set up the play and sent a long return pass to Nazzarett at the Northeast blueline and he entered the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 with Seitz. As Nazzarett reached the far side faceoff circle, he passed the puck over to Seitz on his left and the Princeton University commit redirected the puck past Castro to make it a 5 – 0 game.
Hogg, who was playing in his first game since February 20, stopped all 42 shots he faced while Castro turned aside 34 of 39. Inside the box score: Seitz: 2 goals; Humphrey: 1 goal and 1 assist; Penney: 2 assists. Click here for the full box score.
The two teams will complete their two-game series tonight at 7:00 PM at the Middletown Sports Complex. Limited seating is available.