Titans Win 4-1; Lose Syl Apps in Final Seconds

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Titans Win 4-1; Lose Syl Apps in Final Seconds
Wednesday, February 6, 2002

By David W. Unkle
SJSports Staff Writer

Circle this date March 27, 2002; in the next to last home game of the regular season, the Titans play the Richmond Renegades on home ice. The Titans and their faithful fans will surely greet Richmond's Krys Barch with a warm Trenton welcome after his performance on Wednesday night. As if skating through the goal crease and upending Titans' goalie Dan Murphy wasn't enough, his hit on Syl Apps with 12.7 seconds solidified his spot as one of the most reviled opponents the Titans have faced all season. As Apps was skating out of his own end, he was greeted by what look like an elbow (replays later showed that it was a shoulder) directly to his face. The thundering hit at center ice left Apps with a broken tooth, swollen nose, and a concussion; it left the 5,009 fans and players with a sickening feeling. Titans' defenseman Steve O'Brien immediately went after Barch and was hit with a two-minute minor for roughing; Barch was not penalized on the play. Today, the East Coast Hockey League Office however, fined both Barch and O'Brien an undisclosed amount for their actions. "There was no purpose for it...he was out there looking for trouble...it shouldn't happen, it was unnecessary" said Titans' Head Coach Peter Horacheck. He went on to say "I want our guys to win and lose professionally...you have to stay disciplined. I don't want our guys going out trying to hurt someone...if you want to be a professional, you have to act professional."

Richmond jumped out to an early 1-0 lead just 15 seconds into the game on a one-timer in the slot by Aaron Fox. The Titans were unable to capitalize on two holding the stick penalties by Richmond's Troy Lake. Marty Hughes' rebound for his second goal of the season evened the score for the Titans at 5:53 of the second period just as the Titans killed off Matt Zultek's elbowing penalty. John Nail's back-to-back goals at 18:37 of the second and 4:09 of the third put the Titans ahead to stay. Following an altercation involving Trenton's Ian Forbes and Matt Zultek and Richmond's Steve Dumonski and Brian Goudie putting the Titans on the power play at 16:58, Andreas Moborg closed out the scoring with his fifth goal at 18:42 of the final period.

The Titans defense re-grouped after allowing the only Richmond goal on the first shift of the game to smother the Renegades' offense. After giving up seventeen shots in the first two periods and holding a 2-1 lead, the Titans gave the Renegades no chance to get back into the game by allowing only two shots on goal in the final twenty minutes. Dan Murphy played another strong game between the pipes for the Titans and the Trenton offense put a total of 44 shots on Renegades' Sean Matile. "I thought the guys worked really hard tonight" said Horachek.

The Titans will be back in action at home at the Sovereign Bank Arena at Mercer County on Wednesday, February 13 against the Johnstown Chiefs at 7:05 PM and Friday, February 15 against the Greensboro Generals at 7:30 PM. For more information, be sure to check out the Titans' web site at: www.trentontitans.com