The Norwich Sea Captains used a balanced offensive attack with ten skaters recording at least one point to top the New Jersey Titans 4-1 in North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) play on Friday afternoon, October 7 in Middleton, NJ. Andrew Yocum kicked aside 25 New Jersey shots to earn his fourth win of the season and Tony Morran was the only Sea Captain to record multiple points as he dished out two assists on the afternoon.
Carson Dutcher’s first NA3HL goal just 4:24 into the first period gave Norwich an early lead. The Kansas native collected a puck in the slot and rifled the puck home. Darrell Smith, the Sea Captains’ other Kansan, assisted on the goal. Less than a minute later Jack Kinahan doubled the Norwich lead. Morran and Shane Mazur combined on a slick breakout play that setup a full ice rush from Kinahan capped by a nifty goal to double the lead at the 5:08 mark.
Midway through the second period New Jersey scored a rush goal to cut the Norwich lead to 2-1 before Angelo Donzella reinstated the two goal cushion 13:47 into the middle stanza. Morran moved a puck from the point low in the zone to Jacob Begich who made a beautiful pass to Donzella in the high slot that the goal scorer skillfully converted. A third period power play goal with only 6:24 left to play provided the final margin. Tim Hayden found Erik Masengill with a cross ice pass that the defenseman drove to the net. Nicolas Piluso gathered the rebound and banged the puck home to make the score 4-1.
Norwich lit the lamp on their only power play opportunity of the game while holding the Titans’ power play scoreless in three attempts. Yocum’s 25 saves were highlighted by eleven during the third period as New Jersey pushed to cut into the Norwich lead.
Yocum said, “Carson and Jack getting us on the board early and chasing the New Jersey goalie early set a great tone for the day. Angelo’s goal was big to restore our two goal lead in the second period and made navigating the third period a bit easier. Today’s strong team effort was an awesome way to start the weekend here in New Jersey.”