LEWISTON — Anthony Calafiore got the New Jersey Titans going.

The forward and the recent University of Maine commit had a point on each of the Titans’ first three goals in a 7-2 victory over the Maine Nordiques in an NAHL East Division game at The Colisee on Friday night.

Calafiore, who is 19 and lives in Staton, New York, is excited about the opportunity in Orono.

“I want to play in Hockey East and they came along (in the recruiting process),” Calafiore said. “I am looking forward to playing for coach Ben Barr.”

Michael Young led the Titans with three goals.

“Ryan (Coughlin), him, and Nick (Ring) were lethal throughout,” Titans coach Craig Doremus said. “Michael is just scratching the surface on what he’s going to be as a hockey player. He’s getting better and better as the year goes on.”

The loss snapped the Nordiques’ (14-22-5, 33 points) two-game win streak.

Former Twin City Thunder player Levente Kerezstes passed to Calafiore, who was at the right circle, and Calafiore ripped the shot past Nordiques goalie Avery Sturtz (21 saves) for his 19th goal of the season. The goal came 49 seconds into the game.

Chris Carroll scored to stretch the lead to 2-0 at the five-minute mark. Calafiore had an assist on the goal.

“(Chris and I) were linemates two years ago,” Calafiore said. “So, we definitely have some chemistry. It’s pretty easy when we play together.”

They were teammates with the North Jersey Avalanche 18U team.

Calafiore passed to Carroll on a 2-on-1, and Carroll scored his second goal of the period a little over two minutes after his first goal.

Maine Nordiques coach Matt Pinchevsky said the slow start began before the game.

“It wasn’t a full week of practice. I thought we could have had more detail, more jump, more communication,” Pinchevsky said. “Those three things, spotted them three goals before we even responded.”

Maine’s first grade-A chance came on the game’s first power play. Auburn native Reese Farrell found Tyler Gaulin in the high slot, which put the Nordiques on the scoreboard with under five minutes remaining in the first period.

The Nordiques pressured the Titans early in the second period. Nordiques forward Tristan Fasig’s shot was stopped by Titans goalie Ben Charette (12 saves), but Gaulin grabbed the rebound and tucked the puck into the goal 3:32 into the period.

New Jersey (31-11-2, 64 points) regained the momentum in the final five minutes of the second period. Coughlin’s shot was tipped by Young and found the top shelf to give the Titans a 4-2 lead with 4:35 remaining in the period.

While shorthanded, Young found the back of the net for a 5-2 lead with 3:18 remaining in the second.

“They are a confident group, they look to make plays, they aren’t really throwing pucks around unless they are under pressure,” Pinchevsky said. “I guess we didn’t apply enough pressure.”

Young scored early in the third period when he redirected a Coughlin shot past Sturtz for a 6-2 lead.

The Nordiques had back-to-back power plays but couldn’t convert on either.

Maine was 1-for-6 on the man advantage and the Titans were 0-for-2.

Young capped the hat trick when he fired home the puck after Sturtz made a sliding save to stop the initial shot by Rocco Testa-Basi. The goal came with under six minutes left in the game.

The teams meet again at The Colisee on Saturday at 7 p.m.

“It’s kind of a broken record, tomorrow is kind of a good time to change the story,” Pinchevsky said.

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