Over the weekend the Rebels visited New Jersey for the second time this season. The Rebels were coming off a loss to the Knights in overtime. Whereas the home team had just gotten swept by Northeast, putting them only six-points ahead of the fourth-place team. The Rebels were going to remain in second place no matter the outcome from the weekend, but they were hoping for a sweep so they can try to separate themselves from the bottom of the pack.
They came close to a sweep but unfortunately lost in a shootout on Friday. The first game of the weekend started out well for the Rebels as they found the back of the net first, thanks to Alex Frye. Suddenly though, the Titans scored two goals in under two-minutes. When the horn sounded at the end of the first period the Rebels found themselves trailing 2-1. They came out for the middle period more aggressive as they put up a game high 18 shots on Brandon Perrone. Two of those shots beat Perrone, with the first one coming off the stick of Connor Linton on the power play (first NAHL goal). The other goal scorer for the Rebels in the second period was Niki Jasko. He gave his team their first lead of the game heading into the locker room with one period left in regulation. New Jersey would tie the game back up just after the half-way point in the third. Alex Frye would notch his second on the night, putting the Rebels back up by one. With time winding down in the game, New Jersey was able to beat Noah West one more time to tie things up at 4-4. This would then bring us into 3-on-3 hockey for five minutes. It marked the second-straight game the Rebels had to play extra hockey. Also, since we started the new year the Rebels have went into overtime at least once every weekend. Overtime would not be enough to decide a winner, so the teams prepared for a sudden death shootout. The Rebels won their last shootout back on January 4th against Wilkes-Barre and in that shootout Auggie Moore was the only player to score. That would not be the case this time around. Every player scored during the first two rounds, but then rounds three and four no one was able to find the back of the net. In round five Antonio Venuto could not beat Perrone, putting the game on the line for Mitch Machlitt of New Jersey. He was able to score on West giving his team the 5-4 win and along with it the full two points. That was the first loss for West since December 8th and the first SO loss for Jamestown since October 20th.
After putting up 50 shots the nights before, the Rebels were determined to skate away with the win. Saturday’s game was a battle between Ryan Keane and Ryan Winter. With under five minutes to go in the first, Alex Roy blasted a slapshot right past Winter for the 1-0 lead. New Jersey tried everything they could in the second period to get on the scoreboard, but Keane was a brick wall from start to finish. Neither team scored in the second, giving the Rebels only a 1-0 lead when the third period started. Ian Carpenter who just recently became a Tender for the Rebels was called upon this weekend in New Jersey and did not disappoint. He picked up his first NAHL goal just 6:55 into the third period. The Rebels would hang on to their 2-0 lead at the end of the 60 minutes giving them their first win since January 11th. The shutout was also Keane’s third of the season, tying his total from last season. While the Rebels sadly did not get the sweep, they managed to pick up three points and increase their lead over New jersey to 11PTS.
This weekend the Rebels will host the Maryland Black Bears. Jamestown has not lost to Maryland in regulation this season (6-0-1-1) or on home ice (4-0). Noah West also has both his shutouts this season against the newest team in the NAHL and both coming by a final of 4-0. Jamestown now has an overall record of 22-10-3-2 (49PTS). Their opponent this weekend is currently sitting in fifth place, but they are tied in points with Northeast at 31. Maryland has an overall record of 13-21-3-2 and they are coming off their first sweep in franchise history, which came against the Generals. You will not want to miss these games this weekend as the Rebels are looking for their third-straight sweep over the Black Bears. Also, after Saturday’s game strap on some skates because the Rebels are sticking around after the game to skate with fans. For ticket information call 716-484-2624.
