The New Jersey Titans travelled south to Odenton, MD, for the first time this season and came home with a pair of victories over the top seeded Maryland Black Bears. It is the third time this season that the Titans have swept a weekend series, with all three occasions coming on the road.
Friday night’s game saw New Jersey take a lead 1:08 into the game on Cooper Eberhardt’s 2nd goal of the season. Riley Fitzgerald connected in the final seconds of the period with his third of the year to give the Titans a 2-0 lead going into the first intermisison. Jack Hillier scored in the second period, sandwiched between Maryland goals, to keep New Jersey in front after 40 minutes of play with a 3-2 lead. Dominick Rivelli scored short handed in the third to add the insurance marker, and the Titans skated away with their first victory over Maryland this season. Dylan Krick stopped 38 of 40 shots on goal for his 4th victory in a row, and 6th of the season.
Saturday night saw captain Dominick Rivelli skate in his 100th NAHL game, but both teams’ defense came to play, with the first goal of the game scored by Maryland with 2:06 to go in the second period. With under a minute to play in regulation, and at risk of being shut out by the Black Bears for the second time in four games, Rivelli deflected a Matej Teply shot from the point to force overtime. After a scoreless extra frame, Jack Hillier scored the only goal of the shootout to give New Jersey their first weekend sweep over the Black Bears since November 25th and 26th, 2022.
The Titans are now in 4th place in the nine team East Division, trailing Maryland by 9 points for the top position. New Jersey now goes into their first bye week of the season, with a full week off prior to their next game on November 24th against the Philadelphia Rebels at the Hollydell Ice Arena in Sewell, NJ, at 7:00pm.