The Maine Nordiques gained momentum late in the game, but not enough to overcome the New Jersey Titans’ consistency Friday night.
The Titans put up a touchdown and converted the extra-point for a 7-5 victory over the Nordiques in Middleton, New Jersey.
Maine cut the deficit to 6-5 in the final minutes, but a late goal sealed the win for New Jersey.
“I thought once we came out of the (locker)room for the second period, we were the better team,” Nordiques coach Nolan Howe said. “In the third period it was a little back and forth, but we kept with it and kept battling.”
Mitch Machlitt, an Army commit, scored the seventh goal of the game to complete the hat trick. Michael Outzen added a goal and three assists for the Titans.
Noah Kane led all scorers with a goal and four assists for the Nordiques, while Cannon Green contributed two goals and an assist.
“(Green) is always going to be the guy in the front of the net chipping in rebounds and being hard to play against,” Howe said. “That’s why that young man is getting such college interest. … Noah continues to lead with his play and just with his leadership.”
The Titans jumped out to a 2-0 lead as Mac Wiseman and Gavin Gulash found the net in a two-minute, 44-second span in the middle of the first period.
“A couple missed assignments on our part, things we know we got to clean up if we want to come out with a split tomorrow night,” Howe said. “We made strides the last time we played them; they are a first-place team in our division with 18 ’99-birth-year players.”
The Titans improve to 17-2-1 on the season, while the Nordiques fall to 10-11-1.
Howe said the Nordiques also missed a few offensive chances in the first that could have changed the game.
Kyler Head stretched the Titans’ lead to 3-0 early the second.
Maine finally got on the board when Kane scored on a power play.
Mitch Machlitt extended New Jersey’s lead to 3-1 with 3:51 to play in the second period. The Nordiques, though, responded 16 seconds later with an Isaiah Fox goal.
The teams continued to trade goals in the third period as Machlitt scored his second of the game and then Cannon Green notched a goal for Maine.
Michael Outzen scored the Titans’ sixth goal.
That’s when the Nordiques made their comeback. Tim Kent picked up his first goal of the season on the power play to cut the deficit to 6-4 with just under three minutes to play. The next shift, Green scored his second of the game to get the Nordiques within one goal, but that was as close as they would get.
The Nordiques went 3-for-5 on the man advantage, while the Titans were 0-for-1.
Titans goalie Arseni Sergeev made 25 saves in the victory. Marco Dunio stopped 33 shots for the Nordiques.
The Nordiques have a chance to earn a split Saturday night when they face the Titans again.
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