The Titans will travel south this weekend for a two game set vs the first place Maryland Black Bears, as New Jersey looks to take their first points of the season against the defending East Division Champions. It will be the third and fourth meetings between the clubs this year. Previously, Maryland swept the first weekend the Titans back on October 6th and 7th, defeating New Jersey by scores of 3-2 and 3-0 respectively. The first game saw a goal scored by Ethan Wongus 26 seconds into the game, and Kristofers Krumins finding the back of the net at the 13:45 of the first period, but New Jersey’s offense would go silent after that. Zak Brice stopped 35 of 38 shots in the loss. Skating again the next night, a pair of goals by the Black Bears in the second period and an empty netter in the third would be too much for the Titans, despite Dylan Krick’s 29 saves.
Coming into the weekend, the Black Bears are riding a six game winning streak stretching back to October 20th, with weekend sweeps over New Hampshire, Danbury, and Rochester. With a record of 15-3-2, Maryland currently resides at the top of not only the East Divison, but the entire NAHL.
New Jersey won their last game, an 8-3 decision over Danbury, with Riley Fitzgerald (1g, 2a), Ryan Friedman (1g, 1a), Dominik Bartecko (1g, 2a), Johnny McMahon (2g), Ethan Wongus (1g, 1a), Nikita Meshcheryakov (2a), and Ryan Novo (2a) all recording multiple points. With a record of 10-10-0, the Titans are currently in fifth place of the East Division.
New Jersey will look for its first win over Maryland since March 10th, in a game where Zak Brice stopped 32 of 34 shots on goal. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:30pm on both Friday and Saturday nights at the Piney Orchard Arena, and both games can be watched live on NAHLtv.