The New Jersey Titans took to the road this past weekend to visit the Long Beach Sharks for the second time this season. On Saturday, the Titans would need need to come from behind once again to secure the victory, after surrendering two goals in the first 4:33 of the game. Down by two to begin the second period, New Jersey’s offense came to life, with a goal from Zane Mazzola and a pair courtesy of Payton Fobes to take a 3-2 lead. It would not last long, as the Sharks tied the game less than two minutes after Fobes gave the Titans their first lead of the game.
Not to be outdone, Fionn Thomann scored his first of the season at 3:07 of the third period to put the Titans on top for good. Dante Debueriis would add an empty net goal for the insurance marker, as the Titans won their second game in a row over Long Beach. Sebastian Thome stopped 38 of 41 shots on goal for his league leading sixth win of the season.
Looking to keep the good times rolling, New Jersey jumped out to an early two goal lead in the first period of Sunday’s game with goals from William Fliss and Egor Sobolev. However, after four periods of play, Long Beach made the right adjustments and kept the Titans off the scoreboard for the rest of the contest. They got one back in the second period to make it 2-1, and tied the game at the 5:12 mark of the third period. A back and forth affair saw Long Beach outshoot New Jersey by a 15 to 7 margin in the frame, and the Sharks earned the game winning goal with 1:12 to go in regulation. Jesse Riccio made 34 of 37 saves for the Titans as Long Beach finally secured their first victory of the season after beginning 0-6-0.
Despite the weekend split, the Titans remain atop of the East Division with a record of 8-2-0, good for 16 points. A light week lies ahead for New Jersey, with their next game not until Sunday, October 15th, on the road in Danbury. Faceoff at the Danbury Arena is scheduled for 7:00PM. After that, the Titans will return home for their first meetings against the Northeast Generals on October 20th and 21st. The Generals, who have represented the East Division at the Fraser Cup Finals the past three seasons, have started their season a perfect 5-0-0.