The Titans started their preseason on Wednesday with a 7-0 win over the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers at the Middletown Sports Complex.
Spencer Stanley’s goal in the first period opened the scoring and would turn out to be the game-winner against the Jr. Flyers, a Tier III junior team and defending champions of the Eastern Hockey League.
Head coach Craig Doremus said his team did what they were supposed to do, which was practicing and fine-tuning their play in preparation for the regular season.
“I thought we saw some good things as far as our structure and style,” Doremus said. “We don’t want to look too much into the game but we saw some stuff come together that we’ve been working on the past couple of weeks.”
Instead of three 20-minute periods, the two teams opted for a pair of 25-minute halves with an intermission. The Titans swapped out some players between halves, allowing Doremus to give his entire roster an opportunity to see action.
Returning forward and Sacred Heart commit Nick Boyagian joined Stanley in the first-half scoring. Tyler Antonucci picked up an assist in the preseason contest while Andrew Husted and Ryan Wheeler both had a notable presence on the ice.
“The returning players obviously looked good. They’re used to the tempo and pace of the game,” Doremus said. “However, I think some of them tried to do too much too quickly and it may not look good when you go back to the film. But I get it, because for them it was also about knocking off some of the rust before the season opener against Wilkes Barre.”
Newer faces contributed to a five-goal second half. Kyle Jeffers, Kyle Moore, Jimmy Dowd, Ryan Naumovski and Matthew Cameron all scored in the second frame to give the Titans the 7-0 win. Goaltenders Brandon Perrone and Andrew Kormos each played a half to combine for the shutout.
The Titans have just over a week to prepare for their home opener against the Wilkes Barre Scranton Knights on Saturday Sept. 16.
“We just need to continue to grow and get better every day. We speak so much about never being content with where you are as a player or a team,” Doremus said. “The sooner we all get on the same page in all three zones, it’ll give us a better path for a successful regular season.”