Dominick Rivelli set the franchise record for most goals in a season as the New Jersey Titans defeated the Philadelphia Rebels 5-1 on Tuesday night at the Middletown Sports Complex in the final meeting between the teams this season.
Rivelli made his mark in the Titans’ record book 7:36 into the first period out of a goalmouth scramble for his 30th goal of the season, surpassing the mark of 29 achieved by Michael Young last season. Kyle Kim and Ryan Novo got the assists on the UMass-Lowell commit’s marker, and New Jersey took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Odin Ford scored his first as a Titan and the 2nd of his season when he went five hole 5:08 into the second period, assisted by Rivelli and Ryan Friedman. Then, 32 seconds later, Ethan Wongus celebrated his 100th game in the North American Hockey League by waiting out the Philadelphia goaltender for his 16th of the season. Wongus, a graduate of the New Jersey Titans youth program, has played his entire NAHL career in Middletown. Johnny McMahon had the lone helper as New Jersey extended their lead to three. The Rebels found the back of the next just over two minutes later, but Dominik Bartecko restored the three goal lead when he potted his 29th of the season, assisted by Nikita Meshcheryakov and Jack Hillier. Bartecko is now a goal and two assists away from recording 30 and 50, respectively.
Jack Hillier added an insurance marker in the third period off an offensive zone faceoff for his 17th of the seaosn, with Meshcheryakov getting the assist by winning the draw. Zak Brice would see the game out, ultimately stopping 28 of 29 for his 21st win of the season. With the victory, the Titans finish their season series against Philadelphia with a 6-1-1 record, flipping last year’s results when the Rebels were the only team to have a winning record versus the Titans.
New Jersey will now prepare for the final two games of the regular season when they host the Maine Nordiques on Friday, April 5th, at 7:30pm and Saturday, April 6th, at 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased by following this link.