Nick Seitz scored two goals and Tyler Nasca had three points to help lead the Titans to a 5 – 1 win over the visiting Maine Nordiques last night in game one of this critical three game weekend series. The win moves the Titans within three points of the second place Nordiques, and it was the sixth straight game that Seitz has recorded at least one point.
Seitz got the Titans on the board just 4:56 into the opening period. After David Posma picked up the puck behind his own net, he started to skate up the near side boards but was knocked off the biscuit by a Maine forechecker. The loose puck went straight to Nasca who skated to center ice and passed it to Seitz on his left. As Seitz gained the line, he took a wrist shot from the faceoff dot the beat Nordiques goalie Tyriq Outen low glove side to make it a 1 – 0 game.
Matt Doyle doubled the Titans lead with 2:50 remaining in the first. After Christian Stoever made a save, the rebound came right out to Jack Ring in the slot and Ring passed it up to Tommy Bannister along the far side boards. As Bannister entered the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 with Josh Rule, Bannister made a drag move on a Maine defender at the top of the faceoff circle and passed the puck to Rule who was to the left of Outen. Rule took a shot that was saved by Outen but the rebound was swatted in by Doyle past Outen for his fourth goal of the season and second in his last three games.
Anthony Mollica made it 3 – 0 with 5:17 remaining in the second. After Jake LaRusso broke up a play in his own zone, the puck went to Caleb Price at the near side faceoff dot, and he sent a bounce pass off the boards to Blake Humphrey waiting at the Nordiques blueline. As Humphrey entered the offensive zone on a 2 -on-1, he took a short side wrist shot that missed but the puck bounced high off the end boards glass and came right out to Mollica who was to the left of Outen and the Jenison, MI native tapped the rebound into the empty net for his third goal of the season.
Thirty-four seconds later Maine’s Tristan Fasig put the Nordiques on the board. Maine’s Caden Pattison picked up the loose puck at his own far side half wall and passed it up to Fasig. As Fasig entered the offensive zone on a 3-on-1, he took a shot from within the faceoff circle that beat Stoever low glove side to make it a 3 – 1 game.
The Titans opened the third shorthanded after Price was called for hooking at the end of the middle stanza. With time running out on being a man down, Seitz scored his second goal of the game just 1:35 into the final period. Seitz intercepted a Nordiques pass at his own half wall and skated up along the near side boards. As he entered the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 with Anthony Calafiore, Seitz passed the puck over to Calafiore on his left and Calafiore sent a return pass to Seitz and the Princeton University commit snuck the puck past Outen for his fifteenth goal of the season to give the Titans a 4 – 1 lead. It was the fourth straight game that Seitz has scored two goals.
Humphrey closed out the scoring with 5:24 left in the game to make it 5 – 1.
Stoever turned aside 46 of 47 shots while Outen stopped 31 of 36. Inside the box score: Nasca: 3 points (all assists); Seitz: 2 points (both goals); Humphrey: two points (1 goal and 1 assist). Click here for the full box score.
The teams will play game two of this three game series tonight at 7:00 PM at the Middletown Sports Complex.