The New Jersey Titans swept their two game set against the Northeast Generals this weekend, clinching their ninth straight playoff appearance in the process.
Coming into the weekend, New Jersey and Northeast had previously split their three prior weekend matchups. The Titans jumped on the board 4:55 into the first period on Friday when Dominick Rivelli scored his 23rd of the season. Ethan Wongus doubled the lead for New Jersey with his 15th of the season less than two minutes later, but a Generals’ power play goal cut the lead in half at the 12:12 mark. Rivelli then restored the two goal lead with a breakaway goal in the final two minutes for his second of the game and 24th of the season.
The teams traded goals 34 seconds apart in the second period when a Northeast goal was immediately answered by Kyle Kim’s first in the NAHL, on the same day he announced his commitment to play college hockey at West Point. Rivelli added a power play marker of his own in the third period for his 25th of the year, completing the hat trick as the Titans skated away with a 5-2 victory. Zak Brice stopped 24 of 26 shots for his 18th win of the campaign.
Saturday would see the Generals put the pressure on early when they scored 3:24 into the game. Shorthanded a few minutes later, Reece Brednich led a 2 on 1 the other way, setting up Rivelli for his 26th of the year to tie the game. Northeast would score again late to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Jack Hillier and Johnny McMahon struck 43 seconds apart in the second period to propel the Titans to their first lead of the game, until the Generals were able to tie it just over a minute later. Two minutes later and now on the power play, Rivelli potted his second of the game and 27th of the season to cap off a wild offensive sequence and give New Jersey a lead they would not surrender. Dominik Bartecko added an insurance marker in the third, and then assisted Hillier’s empty netter, tying Bartecko with Ryan Naumovski for the franchise record of 43 assists in a season. Brice again got the win, his 19th of the season, by stopping 35 of 38 shots sent his way. Brice has now won 7 of his last 8 starts.
Powered by the tandem of Rivelli, Bartecko, and Brice, New Jersey is now 8-2-0 in their last 10 games. With the win on Saturday night, the Titans clinched a playoff berth for the ninth consecutive time, maintaining the streak of qualifying for the Robertson Cup Playoffs in every season played in Middletown, stretching back to their inaugural season in 2015-16.The Titans will spend the next week idle before gearing up for six games in the final two weeks of the regular season, all of them on home ice. New Jersey will be in action again on Tuesday, March 26th, when they host a Philadelphia Rebels team looking for their first playoff berth since relocating from Jamestown, New York. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:00pm, and tickets may be purchased by following this link.