Weekend Preview vs Maine
September 19, 2024 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
New Jersey Titans News Release
The New Jersey Titans continue their 11 game road trip as they head north to Lewiston, Maine, for a two game set against the Maine Nordiques this weekend. Friday night's game will be the Nordiques' home opener at The Colisee.
The Nordiques ended last season as the second place team in the division, with a record of 37-17-6, finishing 4 points ahead of Rochester and earning a bye from the East Division Semifinals. They would ultimately fall a game short of winning the division in the playoffs, getting eliminated by the Maryland Black Bears after defeating Rochester in the semis. The Nordiques and Black Bears kicked off this season in Maryland, with Maine losing in overtime opening night, before defeating Maryland 4-0 the next evening. They are currently tied with Northeast and Philadelphia for first place in the division. Last season, the Titans and Nordiques split their season series 4-4, with New Jersey winning 3 of the last 4 games.
Up front, the Nordiques are led by returners Shane Kozlina and Zion Green, each with 4 points. Former Titan Ethan Wongus, traded to Maine over the summer in exchange for a first round draft selection, joins the returners with 4 points of his own. Wongus will now skate for the first time against New Jersey, the team he made his NAHL debut with, ultimately putting up 51 points in 101 games played. Wongus celebrated becoming the 29th Titan to appear in 100 games for the franchise on April 2nd of this year with a goal against Philadelphia. Matthew Dellarusso, drafted by Danbury in 2023, played in both games for Maine last weekend, sports a 1.47 goals against average and a .946 save percentage after playing last season with West Kelowna in the BCHL.
New Jersey looks to move up in the standings after dropping their first game of the season against Rochester, before prevailing in the shootout the following night last weekend. Ryan Friedman is the only Titan forward with more than one point, scoring last Friday in the loss before assisting on Alex Papaspyropoulos's goal to open the scoring on Saturday. Shawn Leary is New Jersey's only defenseman with multiple points after getting an assist on Friday before scoring the game tying goal on Saturday that would force overtime. Austin McNicholas leads the Titans in the crease with a 2.99 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.
Games are scheduled for Friday, September 20th, at 7:30pm and Saturday, September 21st, at 7:00pm. It will be the final tune up for both teams before the NAHL Showcase next week. Both games will be available to watch on NAHLtv.com.
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