New York Titans Head to Buffalo for the Second Round of NLL Playoffs
May 3, 2008 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Orlando Titans News Release
St. Paul, Minn. - In the first round of the NLL Eastern Conference playoffs, the New York Titans ousted Minnesota from the play-offs with an 11-8 victory over the Swarm at the Xcel Energy Center Saturday night. New York will pack their bags for Buffalo when they meet them in the second round of the NLL playoffs on Saturday, May 10 at 7:30pm at HSBC Arena.
In an intense, physical defensive battle Saturday night, Titans captain Casey Powell turned it on in the final minutes of play to ensure a victory for New York by scoring the 9th and 10th goal, which put the game away. Titans goalie Matt Vinc was outstanding between the pipes, with 37 saves on the night.
Vinc was the most valuable player in the first quarter, stopping 11 shots as the Titans offense took some time to heat up. The quarter ended with New York and Minnesota tied up at 2-2 after an intense defensive battle started off the do-or-die first round playoff match.
The pace of the game continued in the second quarter. Brendan Mundorf scored the first goal of the quarter for the Titans off assists by Casey Powell and Pat Maddalena, giving them their first lead of the night at 3-2. With the assist, Powell notched his 350th NLL career point. The teams exchanged three goals each during the quarter and the half expired with a 5-5 tie ball game.
Both teams got physical in the second half of play. The Titans were able to eke out two goals early on despite a punishing Swarm defense. Andy Secore scored the first goal of the half for the Swarm nine minutes in, cutting the Titans lead to 7-6.
Although the Swarm pulled their goalie with less than :30 remaining in the third, the Titans defense remained tough and shut the Swarm down to keep their 7-6 lead going into the final quarter of play.
Five minutes of the final quarter of play expired without either team scoring a goal. But at 5:26, Dan Morohl netted the tying goal for the Swarm, bringing the score to 7-7. The Titans answered right back, with a goal by Jeff Ratcliffe off an assist by Powell in traffic and regained their lead. Three minute later, the Swarm tied the game with a goal by Sean Pollock.
But Powell took control of the game, splitting the Swarm defense and finding the net twice with back-to-back goals. Pat Maddalena scored the last goal of the night for the Titans and their 11-8 victory over launched them into the second round of the playoffs - one more game away from the Champion's Cup.
Powell was the points leader for the night with seven off of four goals and three assists. For Minnesota, Andy Secore had three goals and three assists.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from May 3, 2008
- Winner goes on, loser stays home - Calgary Roughnecks
- Mammoth falls to Roughnecks in NLL playoffs - Colorado Mammoth
- New York Titans Head to Buffalo for the Second Round of NLL Playoffs - Orlando Titans
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