Titans fall 17-13 in battle in Buffalo
January 19, 2008 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Orlando Titans News Release
Buffalo, NY - The New York Titans lost a physical battle 17-13 in Buffalo Saturday night against the Bandits at HSBC Arena, bringing their record to 1-1.
Physical play and penalties were the theme of the night, with the Titans serving a total of 24 minutes in the box and Buffalo serving 72 minutes. Three of the Bandits goals were scored off of power play opportunities. The Titans scored 6 goals off of power plays and finished the night 6-15 on power play opportunities. The Titans are currently the leader in the NLL in power play goals.
Titans Rookie Jordan Hall scored the first goal of the night for the Titans and the first goal of his NLL career 1:45 minutes into the first half off an assist from Titans forward Ryan Boyle. Buffalo answered back quickly with a goal by John Tavares less than two minutes later. The teams exchanged goals throughout the first quarter and ended the quarter tied at four goals apiece.
The game heated up for Buffalo in the second quarter, with the Bandits going on a three goal run to start the quarter. Jordan Hall and Titans Captain Casey Powell answered back with a goal each to bring the score to 7-6. Buffalo forwards Kevin Dostie and Kyle Schmelzle scored two more goals for Buffalo to bring their lead back to three. Powell scored a power play goal for the Titans with less than five minute left in the half to chip away at the lead, but Buffalo answered back a minute later and headed into the tunnel with a 10-7 lead at the half.
Casey Powell opened the second half with a power play goal :33 into the quarter for the Titans. Less than three minutes later, Titans forward Mike McLellan scored another unanswered goal off a different power play, cutting the Bandits lead to 10-9.
Buffalo and New York then exchanged a power play goal apiece, bringing the score to 11-10. With less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Bandits forward John Tavares scored a goal to bring the Bandits a two goal lead at 12-10. The goal was the 17-year NLL veteran's 597th career goal, which broke the all-time NLL scoring record formerly held by lacrosse legend Gary Gait. Tavares finished the night with four goals for the Bandits.
The match continued to be physical in the fourth quarter, with both teams exchanging hits and goals. The Bandits scored the first goal of the fourth quarter, bringing their lead to 13-10. Powell answered back for New York, chipping away at the Bandits lead. Both teams were scoreless for four minutes until Buffalo forward Kevin Dostie scored a goal off an assist by Tavares. Mike McLellan scored two consecutive goals for New York, bringing the Titans back into the game and the score to 14-13.
Buffalo went on a three goal run at the end of the half, however, and ended the game with a 17-13 win. Casey Powell and Mike McLellan tied for the most goals on the night with five a piece. Titans forward Pat Maddalena was the game's leader in points with eight, all off assists. Delby Powless was the leader in points for the Bandits with seven.
The Titans play the Toronto Rock on the road on Saturday, January 26 at 7pm before opening at home against the San Jose Stealth on January 31st at 7:30pm at Madison Square Garden.
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.
• Discuss this story on the National Lacrosse League message board...
National Lacrosse League Stories from January 19, 2008
- Bandits defeat New York Titans - Buffalo Bandits
- Titans fall 17-13 in battle in Buffalo - Orlando Titans
- Toronto Heads West To Face The Edmonton Rush - Edmonton Rush
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
