The New Jersey Titans begin their 2024-25 campaign on the road when they face the Rochester Jr Americans at the Rochester Ice Center this weekend. The Americans enter their second season in the league, after being named the Organization of the Year. With a record of 34-18-8, the Jr Amerks finished in third place with 76 points, 3 points higher than New Jersey. The Titans, for their part, clinched their ninth straight playoff appearance with a fifth place seeding. Both teams advanced to the East Division Semifinals last season, with New Jersey falling to Maryland and Rochester shown the door by Maine. New Jersey took the season series last year, splitting a pair of games in Middletown before sweeping the weekend in Rochester shortly thereafter, with multipoint games recorded by Ryan Novo, Johnny McMahon, and Nikita Meshchrryakov in western New York.
With the departures of Matteo Disipio, Massimo Gentile, and Luca Leighton, the Jr Americans will be led by their highest scoring returners in Adam Gionta (19 goals, 25 assists) up front and Alex Zakrzewski (5 goals, 31 assists) on the blue line. Florian Wade returns for his second season in the Rochester crease after putting up an 18-9-3 record last season, with a 2.87 GAA and .913 save percentage. He is rejoined by Holy Cross commit Danick Laroux, who stopped 89 of 92 shots in 3 playoff games last season. Francois Methot returns for his second season behind the Rochester bench.
For the Titans, Princeton commit Nikita Meshcheryakov and Sacred Heart bound Jack Hillier highlight the returning forwards with 46 and 45 points respectively last season. RPI commit Ryan Shaw joins the Titans and returns to the United States for his first season of NAHL action after recording 28 points with Blackfalds in the BCHL last season. Ryan Novo, Johnny McMahon, Logan Renkowski, and Ryan Friedman, all wearing letters this season, will be expected to provide veteran leadership, with Novo and McMahon heading into their third NAHL season.
Odin Ford, Lucas Marshall, and Kyle Kim return to patrol the Titans blue line in their age out seasons, while Austin McNicholas and Charlie Mistretta will man the crease. McNicholas, the ’04 from New York, returns to the States after spending the past two seasons with Chilliwack of the BCHL, where he recorded a record of 33-23-5, with a 2.87 GAA and a .903 save percentage. Mistretta, who joined the Titans in the playoffs last season after Zak Brice was injured, will look to establish himself after finishing his youth career with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite program. Craig Doremus, who led the Titans to the 2022 Robertson Cup, returns for his 8th season behind the New Jersey bench, assisted by Bobby Dirico and Kyle Shapiro.
Faceoff is scheduled for 7:00pm Friday and Saturday nights at the Rochester Ice Center, and can be seen on NAHLtv.com.