Titans Team Captain Casey Powell Thanks Fans
February 23, 2010 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Orlando Titans News Release
ORLANDO, Fla. (Feb. 22) -- The official had just exited the replay booth and ruled that Sean Morris' shot at the buzzer would stand, ending the longest game in National Lacrosse League history and giving the visiting Boston Blazers a hard-fought 12-11 double-overtime win over the Orlando Titans.
Like most players on the Titans roster, team captain Casey Powell lay slumped in total exhaustion on the Amway Arena turf. After going through the traditional handshake line with the visiting team, Powell was surprised to notice the majority of the 8,000 fans who attended the game were still in the stands and staring at the field in stunned silence.
Powell quickly gathered his teammates together and the Titans team began making wide laps around the field, waving their sticks and saluting those in attendance.
"In my 17 years of association with this league, I have never seen a home team take a lap after a loss, especially such a devastating loss," Team President Steve Donner said. "It's typically reserved for a big winsort of a triumphant thank you to the fans. So from Casey's standpoint as team captain and the standpoint of our players I think they decided to make that lap as a sincere thank you to the fans. It was simple show of appreciation for the fans and I just wanted to add our entire coaching staff and front office also appreciate that support."
"We saluted the crowd after both our home wins this year and even though we were upset at the loss, we wanted to show our fans how much we appreciate their support," Powell said. "After getting little support in New York the last couple of years, we really starting to feel a home crowd advantage in Orlando and we just wanted our fans to know that win or lose, we really appreciate how they are backing us."
Saturday's atmosphere in Amway became supercharged after the Titans came back from 4-1 and 6-3 deficits to eventually tie the game in the fourth quarter and then take a two goal lead. But Boston staged a furious rally. Pulling its goalie to create a "man-up" advantage, the Blazers got a goal from Brett Queener at the 30 second mark and then officials ruled that Jamie Rooney's shot at the buzzer went in before time expired to force overtime.
The overtime was anything but typical. Where four to ten combined goals in each quarter is the norm in an NLL game, Boston and Orlando played to a scoreless tie. Twice goals were eventually disallowed for crease violations and one ball slipped between Titans goalie Matt Vinc's legs - only to stop rolling just before crossing the goal line. And through all 15 minutes of non-stop action, the majority of Titans fans at Amway remained standing and cheering for the Titans.
They remained standing after the Morris goal and the official review to determine whether there was a shot clock violation and then stood and cheered as Powell led the Titans around the arena in a player's salute to the fans.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from February 23, 2010
- Titans Team Captain Casey Powell Thanks Fans - Orlando Titans
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