MIDDLETOWN, NJ– In another weekday game, the Maryland Black Bears went on the road to take on the New Jersey Titans for the first time this season. In a big back-and-forth game, the game took longer than regulation to get solved, but in the end– the Black Bears had their 10-game winning streak snapped in an overtime loss.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28th, 2025: BLACK BEARS (5) at New Jersey (6) OT: Maryland got on the board early, as Aidan Petroff scored his first NAHL goal off a solid pass from Owen Drury to put Maryland up 1-0 only 4:20 into the game. The Maryland offense would tilt the ice towards the New Jersey net, but couldn’t find a second goal in the frame despite the numerous chances. New Jersey would tie it up with Tate Pecknold threw a shot from the corner that evaded Dom Gatto and leveled the score. While Maryland tried to go ahead, they would settle for a tie into the first intermission.
The second period was frantic, as the Black Bears controlled the pace to start, not allowing New Jersey to get a shot on Maryland’s net for the first seven-and-a-half minutes of the period. Ryan Franks would give Maryland the lead back, cleaning up the garbage in front to make it 2-1. Then penalties reared their ugly head in Maryland’s direction, as multiple penalties and a two-man disadvantage would cause New Jersey to go ahead. First, Ty Creech scored 5-on-3, then Arseniy Zharikov would score with only 20 seconds left in the power play to give New Jersey their first lead of the game. Maryland would get a 5-on-3 of their own late, with Tanner Duncan hammering home a one-timer after some pitch-and-catch with Harrison Smith to tie the game up at three. Then, a minute later, Duncan scored again on the power play, waiting out the New Jersey netminder to put it home after a great outlet to start from Gatto to make it 4-3 heading into the intermission.
New Jersey tied the game up again early in the third with Nik Doumas ripping a shot that fooled Gatto to tie it up at four. Maryland’s parade to the penalty box continued and created another power play goal for New Jersey, as Owen Leahy made it 5-4 with 10:19 remaining the the period.The Black Bears, once again, would answer with a power play goal of their own with Josh Frenette put home a rebound falling down to knot the score up at five. Despite a strong push from each side, 60 minutes was not enough and each team got a point heading into overtime.
In the overtime, New Jersey had possession for most of it and created a power play for themselves. In that power play, Blake Jones capped a four-point night and put home the game winner to snap the Black Bears 10-game winning streak. Dom Gatto made 17 saves.
The Black Bears are on the road this weekend, as they head to Danbury to face the Jr. Hat Tricks for the first time this season. Action can be caught on NAHL TV or at the watch party on Saturday afternoon at 3 PM.
Clutch And Crab Hockey 