The New Jersey Titans won their third game in a row by defeating the Philadelphia Rebels 5-3 in their first meeting of the season Friday night at the Hollydell Ice Arena in Sewell, New Jersey.
The 3-6-1 Titans met the 4-4-1 Rebels to begin a home and home set against their in-state rivals. Archer Brown, celebrating his recent commitment to Brown University, put the Titans on the board with his first in the NAHL off a feed from Jack Hillier at the 9:22 mark of the first period. The Rebels would even the game with under 2 minutes to play, sending the teams to the first intermission tied at 1.
New Jersey regained the lead 75 seconds into the second period on the power play after Ryan Shaw danced his way through the Philadelphia defense before going top shelf. Blake Jones and Ryan Novo picked up the assists on the RPI commit’s 2nd of the season. Again, Philadelphia responded minutes later, and the game would remain tied as the second period came to an end.
Captain Ryan Novo have the Titans a lead they would not relinquish 4:56 into the final regulation period, tapping home a Hillier pass for his 4th go of the season. Shaw received the other assist. Caden Wells the poked home his first in the NAHL off a goal mouth scramble to put the Titans up by 2 at the 11:27 mark of the third. A Rebels goal 38 seconds later quashed New Jersey’s momentum, but the Titans were able to recover and maintain the lead. With the goaltender pulled in favor of an extra attacker, Jack Hillier capped off a 3 point night with his 4th goal of the year, sending New Jersey to their third consecutive victory. Hillier has now recorded 9 points in his last 3 games.
With the win, the Titans move into a tie with Philadelphia in the East Division standings. The home and home series now shifts to Middletown for the New Jersey Titans home opener on Saturday, October 12th, at 7:00pm.