The New Jersey Titans secured their first weekend sweep on the road by defeating the Elmira Aviators 7-1 on Friday, before coming from behind on Saturday to secure their 6th straight win Saturday night at the LECOM Event Center in Elmira, New York.
In the first matchup between the Titans and the expansion Aviators, Alex Papaspyropoulos got New Jersey on the board over eight minutes into the first period for his 4th goal of the season. A power play goal by Elmira tied the game, but Owen Leahy responded with a power play goal of his own to give the Titans a 2-1 lead after the first period. Ryan Friedman scored a pair of goals on the power play in the second, his second multigoal effort in his past four games. Ryan Novo would deflect a shot home as well, with Ryan Shaw assisting on all three goals in the period as New Jersey began to pull away. Logan Renkowski and Nik Doumas added insurance markers in the third as the Titans rode Austin McNicholas’s 32 saves to their fifth straight victory by a score of 7-1.
Papaspyropoulos would factor into the opening goal of Saturday night’s game with a feed to Ryan Shaw for the RPI commit’s 3rd goal of the season, coming once again on the power play. Elmira would tie the game later in the opening frame, before taking the lead early in the second. New Jersey was outshot in the period, despite having a 5 on 3 power play for a full two minutes. The offense continued to stay quiet in the third, forcing the Titans to pull McNicholas in favor of the extra attacker. As the clock ticked under the final minute of play, Novo deflected a Papaspyropoulos shot under the crossbar to draw New Jersey level and keeping the winning streak alive. In overtime, McNicholas made a highlight reel save to maintain the tie, before Jack Hillier went coast to coast and stuffed his own rebound over the goal line to complete the comeback and give New Jersey the 3-2 victory.
The Titans have now won their last 6 games in a row and have vaulted up the East Division standings. In three weeks, they have climbed out of the basement and now sit in 3rd place with a record of 7-6-1. Jack Hillier, with the overtime winner, kept his point streak alive, now putting up 13 points in his last 6 games, while Ryan Shaw has recorded 12 points in his last seven games. Goaltender Austin McNicholas has won his last 5 games in a row after Charlie Mistretta secured his first NAHL victory to kick off the winning streak against Northeast on October 5th.
New Jersey will now prepare for a weekend clash against the Johnstown Tomahawks for the first meeting between the teams since the Titans swept the Tomahawks in the playoffs last season. It will be a special weekend at the Middletown Sports Complex, with the Titans wearing special pink uniforms in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The uniforms will be auctioned to the public after Saturday’s game, and fans can purchase tickets by following this link.