The New Jersey Titans failed to maintain a 3-1 lead in the second period, giving up four unanswered goals, including an empty netter, to fall to the Rochester Jr Americans 5-3 on Friday night at the Rochester Ice Center.
The Titans saw the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign begin on their back foot, conceding the first 4 shots and the first goal of the game 6:26 in. They would not be down for long, as Kristofers Krumins made New Jersey’s first shot of the season count when the Vermont University commit went upstairs to tie the game at one apiece, assisted by captain Ryan Novo. The Titans would then extend the lead shorthanded when Ryan Friedman took advantage of a defensive miscue and wrapped a puck in for his first of the season. New Jersey would head to the locker room with a 2-1 advantage, despite being out shot 13-7 in the first period.
Beginning the second period with carryover power play time, the Titans struck quickly when Harvard commit Logan Renkowski potted New Jersey’s first power play marker of the year 33 seconds into the middle frame. Owen Leahy picked up the lone helper as New Jersey staked out a two goal lead. However, the Jr Americans were able to tighten up defensively and begin to claw back, answering just over a minute later to cut their deficit in half. Rochester then found the equalizer with under six minutes to play, and the teams went into the second intermission tied at three.
It was Rochester’s turn to strike quickly in the third, scoring what would prove to be the game winning goal 43 seconds into the final period. A string of four straight penalties would cause the offense to sputter, and an empty net goal with under a minute to play would put the game to rest. Austin McNicholas stopped 34 of 38 shots in his NAHL debut, but some highlight reel saves would not be enough as the Titans fell by a score of 5-3.
New Jersey will look to rebound tomorrow, Saturday September 14th, when the conclude the weekend series against Rochester at 7:00pm. The game will be available to watch on NAHLtv.com.