Titans Prepare To Battle Undefeated Philadelphia
Published on February 28, 2008 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Orlando Titans News Release
New York, NY - Coming off a three game winning streak, the 4-4 New York Titans are prepared to face their toughest competition of the season in Philadelphia against the 5-0 Wings at the Wachovia Center on Friday, February 29 at 8pm. This is the teams' first of three matches this season.
"[The Wings] are pretty scary," said Titans Head Coach Adam Mueller. "They're awfully talented and they're scoring in bunches at time."
The Titans enter the game against Philly after a dominating win over defending champs the Rochester Knighthawks, who the Titans beat 14-11 on Saturday, February 23rd at the Blue Cross Arena. The win placed the Titans at the .500 mark and tied them with the Buffalo Bandits for fourth place in the East, the last play-off spot in the stacked conference.
Titans captain Casey Powell was the points leader in the win against Rochester 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.
Prior to the game against Rochester the Titans notched two impressive wins, with one at home and one on the road. After dropping four games in a row and earning a 1-4 record to start the season, the Titans turned their season around on February 10 at Madison Square Garden against the Buffalo Bandits in a thrilling 10-9 over-time victory. In their next game on February 16, the Titans dominated Chicago and at one point had a 10-1 lead before ultimately downing the Shamrox 14-9 at the Sears Center. Three Titans had hat tricks and seven Titans scored at least one goal in the game against Chicago.
But Philadelphia will be a tough test for the Titans in their second season. Led by second-year forward Athan Ianucci, the Wings are the only undefeated team in the NLL right now. Ianucci is the top scorer in the NLL with 25 goals in only five games and has a supporting cast that scores an average of 11 goals per game.
"They have an athletic and aggressive defense and their offense can score off the face-off, five on five and on the power play," Mueller added. "They're confidence is really high right now and it'll be a great test for our club. Right now our guys need to play confident and composed and put their best game together. Last week was the best game [the Titans] played on the floor, and we're looking for the same effort Friday night."
Although the Wings are the best in the league, according to Wings coach Dave Huntley, the game against the Titans won't be a walk in the park. The Titans are number one in the league in power play goals, and their captain Casey Powell is second in the league in points behind John Tavares. Titans' face-off man Jamie Hanford is second in the league in face-off wins behind the Wings' Geoff Snider, which will lead to a battle at the center circle on Friday.
"There's a huge difference between where New York was last year as an expansion franchise and where they are now," said Huntley. "[Titans goalie Matt Vinc] has been playing well. Last year they scored a lot of goals but gave up a lot of goals, this year they're playing extremely well - scoring a lot of goals and not giving up a lot of goals."
The Titans have a bye week next week but continue their road stretch against the Toronto Rock on Friday, March 14th at 7:30pm at the Air Canada Centre. 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. The Titans' April Three Game Pack starts as low as $45 for the Titans final three home games at the World's Most Famous Arena. Log onto www.nytitans.com for information on the Titans 2008 season schedule.
National Lacrosse League Stories from February 28, 2008
- NLL welcomes in Hall of Fame Class of 2008 - NLL
- NLL Adds Sims, Murray To West All-Star Team - Colorado Mammoth
- Jax Look For Season Sweep Over Rush - Portland Lumberjax
- Titans Prepare To Battle Undefeated Philadelphia - Orlando Titans
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