The visiting New Jersey Titans fell 3 – 1 to the Johnstown Tomahawks last night as the victory gave the Tomahawks a weekend sweep of the two teams.
At 9:28 into the opening period the Titans Anthony Calafiore was called for slashing to give Johnstown the man advantage. A little over halfway through the powerplay and the Tomahawks setting up in the Titans zone, Johnstown’s Brendan Clark had the puck at the top of the near side faceoff circle and he sent it back to Ryan Poorman at the top of point. Poorman took a low line shot that was save by Titans goalie Berk Berkeliev but the rebound came right out to John Gelatt who buried it into the net to give the Tomahawks a 1 – 0 lead.
With 6:47 left in the first, Johnstown’s Jared Gerger was called for slashing to put the Titans on the powerplay. Tyler Nasca was at the top of the point and he sent the puck over to Jake LaRusso at the top of the far side faceoff circle. LaRusso sent it down low to Evan Werner at the goal line and Werner made a centering pass out front that was blocked by Johnstown’s Holt Oliphant. As Oliphant went to clear the puck, Nasca gloved it down at the point and took a clapper that found its way through a screen and past Tomahawk’s goalie Sam Evola to even the score at one. It was Nasca’s second goal of the season.
The Tomahawks took a 2 – 1 lead with 5:37 left in the second period. Johnstown’s Anthony Mastromonica brought the puck behind the Titans next and towards the near side boards and passed it back to Liam Whitehouse at the point. Whitehouse sent it back down low to Gelatt who cut towards the Titans net and took a shot that was saved by Berkeliev but the rebound came right out to Mastromonica who backhanded the puck into the net for his sixth goal of the season.
Just twenty-four seconds into the third, Tommy Bannister was given a five-minute elbowing call to give Johnstown another power play. At 4:38 into the final period, Poorman put the Tomahawks up by two. Poorman picked up the loose puck at the near side half wall and passed it back to Caden Lewandowski at the point. Lewandowski sent a return pass back to Poorman who took a clapper that found its way through a screen and past Berkeliev to close out the scoring.
Berkeliev, who played very well throughout the game, stopped 40 of 43 shots while Evola turned aside 15 of 16. Click here for the box score.
The two teams are scheduled to meet next Sunday, November 29 at 3:30 PM at the Middletown Sports Complex.