Titans roll over Rochester
February 23, 2008 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Orlando Titans News Release
Titans win 14-11, bringing their record to 4-4, tying for 4th place in the East
Rochester, NY - The New York Titans of the National Lacrosse League defeated the defending champs the Rochester Knighthawks 14-11 Saturday night at the Blue Cross Arena, extending their winning streak to three and tying with Buffalo for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
The Titans and the Knighthawks exchanged a flurry of goals in the first quarter of play, but the Titans were able to exit the quarter with a 5-4 lead.
Penalties plagued the Knighthawks in the second quarter. They were forced to serve two 5-minute major penalties and two 2-minute minor penalties, leaving them a man-down for all but one minute in the quarter.
All that worked to the Titans advantage. After Knighthawks player Scott Ditzell was ejected from the game in the second quarter for fighting with Titans defender Pat Merrill, New York went on a four goal scoring spree. Knighthawks star player John Grant Jr. finally scored a goal at 10:45. The goal was the Knighthawks sole goal of the quarter.
Titans forward Pat Maddalena had a hat trick and a total of five Titans scored in the first half of play. At the end of the half, the Titans had a sizable 9-5 lead.
Titans' rookie Jordan Hall scored the first goal of the second half, bringing the Titans lead to 10-5. Grant answered back for Rochester, in an attempt to chip away at the Titans lead, but Titans goalie Matt Vinc thwarted all Rochester efforts, only allowing two goals in the net on 17 shot attempts. At the end of the third quarter, the Titans were up 12-7.
Ryan Boyle and Casey Powell scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter, padding the Titans lead to a dominating 14-7. The Knighthawks made a furious attempt to erase their seven goal deficit by lighting the lamp a total of four times in a four minute period during Titans penalties. But it was not enough.
Titans hung on to win the game 14-11. The win is the Titans third in a row, bringing their record to 4-4. They are now tied with Buffalo for fourth place in the Eastern Conference, only 2.5 games behind the undefeated Philadelphia Wings and a half-game behind the 4-3 Toronto Rock.
Titans captain Casey Powell was the points leader in the game with nine off of three goals and six assists. Titans starting goalie Matt Vinc was a brick wall, allowing only 11 of 63 shots on the night.
John Grant Jr. and Scott Evans each had three goals and three assists for the Knighthawks.
The Titans continue their road trip next Friday, February 29 at 8:00pm in Philadelphia against the undefeated Wings. They play their next home game on Saturday, March 22 at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ against the Philadelphia Wings at 7:30pm.
Titans 2008 Season and Group Tickets are now available by calling 888-8TITANS or contact the Titans at tickets@nytitans.com. Season tickets start as low as $75 for all five games at the World's Most Famous Arena. Log onto www.nytitans.com for information on the Titans 2008 season schedule.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from February 23, 2008
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