Weekend Preview vs Maryland
January 17, 2025 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
New Jersey Titans News Release
The New Jersey Titans will host the Maryland Black Bears for a pair of games this weekend at the Middletown Sports Complex. It is the first meeting in Middletown since Maryland eliminated the Titans last year with a 3-0 sweep. New Jersey holds the advantage in the season series this year with a 1-0-1 record in 2 games in Maryland, defeating the Black Bears 5-3 on December 13th, before falling in overtime 4-3 the following night. Maryland is one of the hottest teams in the East Division, going 7-2-1 in their past 10 games, stretching back to the beginning of December. With a record of 22-10-3, they are currently in 3rd place in the division with 47 points, trailing second place Maine by 2, but holding 4 games in hand. New Jersey sits in 4th place with a record of 18-13-5, 6 points behind the Black Bears.
Maryland is led up front by Harrison Smith, with 2 goals and 24 assists in his first NAHL season. Isac Nielson and Kareem El-Bashir, who scored the overtime game winner in the teams' last matchup, are tied with 12 goals each. Sebastian Speck, the former captain of the Oklahoma Warriors, has recorded a goal and two assists since being acquired for Luke Rubin two weeks ago. Combined, Speck has 36 points in 31 games during his age-out season. Benji Motew, the Air Force Academy commit, is expected to patrol the Maryland crease with a personal record of 13-8-2, coupled with a 2.48 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. The Chicago Mission product has recorded a pair of shutouts this year.
The Titans are coming off a weekend split against the Northeast Generals, winning on Friday 5-4 before falling 6-3 on Saturday at home. New Jersey's Jack Hillier has put up 50 points so far this season, ranking him 2nd overall in the league. The future Sacred Heart Pioneer's 36 assists leads the league, and his 50 points is the fastest a Titan has reached that plateau in a season. Alex Papaspyropoulos leads the team with 17 goals, with captain Ryan Novo and USHL call-up Logan Renkowski one tally behind with 16. Austin McNicholas holds a personal record of 12-9-3, with a 3.38 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.
Faceoff is scheduled for 7:30pm on Friday night, followed by a 7:00pm start on Saturday evening at the Middletown Sports Complex. Tickets are available for purchase by following this link.
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