Aviators’ comeback bid comes up just short for second straight night
MIDDLETOWN, N.J. – The Elmira Aviators (16-25-3-1) failed to find a third-period equalizer in a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Titans (23-16-5-1) Saturday night.
Saturday’s game closely mirrored Friday’s contest. Elmira fell behind at first, then used the power play to tie things up in the second period. A late second-period goal put the Titans back out in front and they maintained their lead for the rest of both games.
For a moment, the Aviators believed they had come back to tie the game in the third period. Forward Matt Maglio pounded the puck in during a wild sequence in front of the net. But jubilation quickly turned to sorrow when the officials disallowed the goal for a hand pass.
Bryce Terry attempted to glove the puck down after it rang the crossbar, but Terry didn’t get his stick on it before Maglio did.
The Aviators’ best part of Saturday night and the weekend as a whole was the power play. Elmira entered the series with the worst-ranked man advantage in the East Division. It was also on a 0-for-15 slump.
However, the Aviators’ power play looked much snappier against New Jersey, featuring sharp passes executed with conviction. Elmira converted its lone power play chance on Friday night as well as its first two opportunities on Saturday.
In Saturday’s game, Bryce Terry kicked off the power scoring by burying a rebound off a Matt Maglio shot. Then Jett Otwell received a pass from Clarence Beltz to score the Aviators’ second straight power-play goal and tie the game at two.
Beltz and Otwell both had multi-point weekends. Otwell scored two goals and added an assist against the Titans while Beltz scored once and assisted three times over the series.
Next weekend the Aviators will face off against the Maryland Black Bears in their penultimate home series in the regular season.
Game 1 is Friday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. and is Star Wars night at the LECOM Event Center. Friday’s game also features a four for $40 ticket deal including four drinks.
Game 2 is Saturday, Feb. 22, and is also at 7 p.m. The games can be streamed on NATV and listened to on Big Foot Country Legends.
Mac Young is the play-by-play voice of the Elmira Aviators. To contact him email [email protected].