An exciting and hard-fought game but not many goals to show for it, in Tomahawk’s loss at New Jersey Titans in Middletown, N.J. Friday night.
The Tomahawks had plenty of opportunities to score in a power-play-heavy game. A good effort by goalie Sam Evola and the Johnstown Tomahawks was not enough to overcome the Titans in the first game of the weekend.
The first period got off to a rather slow start. After the Titans won the opening face-off, with a lot of back-and-forth excitement on both sides. We saw some early 4 on 4 actions resulting from, Anthony Mastromonica and Jack Ford both getting sent to the box. Mastromonica was called for roughing and Ford for crosschecking both serving two minutes. Ultimately, neither side came out victorious during the 4 on 4. Later in the period, Titans player Jack Ring was called for slashing, however, the Tomahawks couldn’t find the back of the net on the power play. Scoring came late on in the period after Max Neil was called for tripping, which led to a power-play goal by New Jersey’s Jared Werner. The Tomahawks would trail New Jersey after the first period 1-0.
It was a period full of powerplays and not a lot of scoring in the second. Titans, Anthony Mollica was sent to the penalty box for two minutes for a holding call, resulting in the Tomahawk’s first power play of the period. Three minutes later, former Johnstown Tomahawk, Matt Doyle was called for interference. The Tomahawks played a hard-fought battle during the power play but couldn’t put anything on the board. At 8:22, Brendan Clark was called for boarding and sent to the box for two minutes, resulting in the Titan’s second power-play goal of the night. Throughout the period, the Tomahawks would be unsuccessful in all four powerplays. The Titans would keep their lead over Johnstown, 2-0 after two.
The Tomahawks returned to the ice looking to keep their winning streak alive. An early-on penalty put William Persson in the box for two minutes for interference. Shortly after Jake Suede of the Titans was called for interference, putting the Hawks in power-play action. This resulted in an Anthony Mastromonic power-play goal assisted by Will Margel and Max Smolinski, putting Johnstown on the board. After more back and forth play-action, Matthew Iasenza of New Jersey was charged with slashing. Another power-play for Johnstown was on the rise with a William Persson unassisted goal giving the Tomahawks some life in the third. Goalie, Sam Evola played a hard-fought battle throughout the game but with a late empty-net goal from Jake Suede, the Titans finished on top 4-2.
The Tomahawks and Titans will face off again tomorrow night in Middletown as the Hawks look for redemption. The game will be available on HockeyTV along with social media coverage.