Two Games, Impact TBD

Published on April 21, 2010 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Orlando Titans News Release


The Orlando Titans (9-5) close out the regular season this weekend with a pair of road games, playing a make-up game with the Philadelphia Wings (Friday, Apr. 23, 7 p.m.) before closing out the 2010 regular season with a contest against the Minnesota Swarm (Saturday, Apr. 24, 8:30 p.m.). With the Titans clinching the East Division title last week with a come-from-behind win over Buffalo, the impact of these two final games is yet to be determined. As East Division champs, the Titans have clinched no lower then a #2 overall seed and would have home field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs. The only way the Titans could improve their playoff position would be to sweep the two remaining games and hope for a Rochester (7-8) upset against Washington (10-5). That said, it remains to be seen how Coach Comeau and his staff will approach these final two games. Being a back-to-back situation, Comeau has already stated his intention of playing some players in only one of the two games to keep "fresh legs." The question remains striking a balance between resting key players and continuing to build momentum into the post-season.

BUFFALO REVISITED: A NEAR PERFECT HALF OF LACROSSE

From outward appearances, last Friday's game had looked like Orlando would struggle for a second week in a row. Coming off an ugly 17-7 loss to Washington, the Titans trailed Buffalo, 7-3, with less than five minutes to go in the second half. But appearances were deceiving as the Titans would shutout Buffalo the rest of the way and record an impressive 9-7 win over the Bandits to clinch the Eastern Division. "Early in the game, we were not playing that poorly," Titans head coach Ed Comeau said. "We were getting the looks we wanted but couldn't find the back of the net. They then went on a run, which happens in this game. We were pretty calm at halftime, I just told the guys that we had to take it one goal at a time and one possession at a time. There are no five-point goals in this game and they needed to just keep working hard and things would change." Change they did as Casey Powell scored four goals, including two in the second-half and Matt Vinc turned away all 19 second half shots he faced. The win moved the Titans to 9-5 on the season and based on the NLL's tie-breaking formula, Orlando clinched the East based on tie-breaking scenarios with Toronto or Toronto and Boston.

HOME SWEET HOME? MAYBE

Orlando concluded the home portion of its 2010 season with a 5-3 record (.600). That stacks up favorably with the league average. Through 84 games this season, the home team is 44-40 (a respectable .524 winning percentage), but since Feb. 19, NLL home teams have won just 19 of 48 games (a .396 winning percentage). Colorado has not won at home this season (0-7).

TITANS

Numerical Roster

No.NamePosition3Alrich, MattForward4Ammann, SteveDefense6Bigas, JeffDefense7Guerin, JessieForward10Zash, MattDefense12Park, JarettTransition14Boyle, RyanForward15MacLeod, MatForward16Merrill, PatDefense17Greer, BillDefense18Peyser, StephenDefense19McLellan, MikeForward20Peyser, GregDefense21Koneczny, ChetDefense22Powell, CaseyForward24Smith, RoryDefense33Wagar, KurtisGoalie42Maddalena, PatForward44Hall, JordanForward48Vinc, MattGoalie55Ammann, MikeDefense56Orsen, JohnTransition72Thompson, ChadForward92O'Brien, TimForward

Head Coach

Ed Comeau

Pronunciation Guide

AMMANN ah man

BIGAS Bee-gas

GUERIN GEAR-an

KONECZNY Kah-nez-KNEE

MADDALENA mad-dah-LEEN-ah

VINC Vince

WAGAR Way-gar

TITANS HEAD COACH ED COMEAU

Whether he has been a head coach, general manager, or an assistant coach the name Ed Comeau has been synonymous with success for more than a decade in the National Lacrosse League. Comeau is in his second season as head coach and general manager of the Titans organization and in his 13th season of affiliation with the NLL. Comeau assumed the dual role of head coach and general manager of the Titans on June 30, 2008. In his first season with the team, Comeau captured an Eastern Division championship with a 10-6 record and then led the Titans to playoff victories over Rochester and Buffalo. The season concluded with a hard-fought 12-10 road loss in the Champion's Cup Final to highly-favored Calgary. For his efforts, Comeau received votes for Coach of the Year, but it was his shrewd personnel moves before and during the season that made the Titans a championship contender and resulted in Ed being named NLL General Manager of the Year. With an East Division title in 2010, Comeau has now captured back-to-back division crowns in his two seasons with the Titans.

Comeau's NLL Coaching Career (*NLL Champion)

Year Team Position Record Pct.

1998 Ontario Asst. Coach 6-6 .500

1999 Toronto Asst. Coach 11-3* .786

2000 Toronto Asst. Coach 11-3* .786

2001 Toronto Asst. Coach 12-4 .750

2002 Toronto Asst. Coach 13-5* .722

2003 Toronto Asst. Coach 13-5* .722

2004 Toronto Int. Head Coach 2-4 .333

2005 Rochester Asst. Coach 11-7 .611

2006 Rochester Head Coach 10-8 .556

2007 Rochester Head Coach 17-2* .895

2008 Rochester Head Coach 8-8 .500

2009 New York Head Coach 12-7 .632

2010 Orlando Head Coach 9-5 .643

NLL Career Totals Head Coach 58-34 .630 Asst. Coach 77-33 .700

GAME MOVED AGAIN

It was announced two weeks ago that Orlando's regular season game at Philadelphia that was postponed by snow back on Feb. 6 was being rescheduled for Sunday, April 25. That game has now moved again, however, as the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL rallied to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs and had a "first hold" on that date with the Wachoiva Center. This means Orlando will now play the Wings on Friday, April 22 at 7 p.m. before traveling to Minnesota for the Saturday, April 23 regular season finale. "In terms of scheduling team travel and getting an extra day off before the start of the playoffs, this certainly works out better for the Titans," Team President Steve Donner says. "It would have been more difficult to play in Minnesota on Saturday night, lose an hour on travel back to the East and then play an early Sunday night game."

THE CAPTAIN STILL NEEDS ONE

In capturing Game MVP honors last week, Orlando Titans captain Casey Powell scored four goals and added an assist for five points. That brought his career total to 499 career points in the NLL - just one point short of reaching 500. Powell has played parts of eight NLL seasons for three different franchises. His totals include 321 points with the New York/Orlando Titans (2007-10), 123 points with the Anaheim Storm (2004-05) and 58 points with the Rochester Knighthawks (1999-2000). Powell did not play in the NLL from 2001-2003. "Earlier in my career, I was a little frustrated and almost gave the game (NLL) up," Powell said. "But I came back and worked on making myself a better player. So from that standpoint, it will be gratifying to reach the 500-point mark." Of current Titans players, only Pat Maddalena has eclipsed the career 500-point mark. Maddalena currently has 667 career points in 11 NLL seasons in a career that has included stops in Buffalo, Columbus, Arizona, New York and Orlando.

TITANS CAREER LEADERS

(Current Through 4.16.2010)

Goals Scored

Casey Powell 137 2007-10

Pat Maddalena 116 2007-10

Mike McLellan 109 2007-10

Ryan Boyle 79 2007-10

Brendan Mundorf 74 2007-09

Jordan Hall 64 2007-10

Power Play Goals

Mike McLellan 48 2007-10

Casey Powell 43 2007-10

Pat Maddalena 31 2007-10

Brendan Mundorf 20 2007-09

Assists

Casey Powell 178 2007-10

Pat Maddalena 176 2007-10

Ryan Boyle 169 2007-10

Jordan Hall 144 2007-10

Brendan Mundorf 75 2007-09

Mike McLellan 75 2007-10

Points

Casey Powell 321 2007-10

Pat Maddalena 298 2007-10

Ryan Boyle 251 2007-10

Jordan Hall 213 2007-10

Mike McLellan 184 2007-10

Brendan Mundorf 149 2007-09

Loose Balls

Jarett Park 506 2007-10

Pat Merrill 361 2006-10

John Orsen 294 2007-10

Pat Maddalena 288 2007-10

Greg Peyser 281 2007-10

Casey Powell 277 2007-10

Jordan Hall 258 2007-10

Ryan Boyle 248 2007-10

Penalty Minutes

Rory Smith 190 2008-10

Patrick Merrill 120 2008-10

John Orsen 109 2007-10

Greg Peyser 113 2007-10

Jarett Park 99 2007-10

Stephen Peyser 40 2009

Face-Offs Won

Stephen Peyser 308 2009

Jamie Hanford 264 2008

Greg Peyser 147 2007-10

Joe Ghedina 123 2007

Anthony Kelly 72 2007-08

Matt Zash 40 2007-10

Saves

Matt Vinc 2159 2007-10

Caurtis Palidwor 120 2007

GREG'S BIG NIGHT

With several lineup changes last week, defenseman Greg Peyser was forced into more of a transition role that he passed with flying colors. Peyser scored two sensational goals, including one where he went behind the net and jammed it home and a second when he won a faceoff, picked up his own deflection and scored on a breakaway. For the game, he finished with two goals, picked up 11 loose balls and won 13 of 16 faceoffs ( .813). For his efforts, Peyser was nominated for NLL Transition Player of the Week.

SERIES NOTES VS. PHILADELPHIA

Friday's game will mark the third time this season and the 11th time overall the Titans and Wings have metOrlando leads the all-time series 6-4, including a 13-8 win in the season opener and a 11-9 win back on March 12both games were played in Amway ArenaFriday's contest is a make-up of a Feb. 6 game that was postponed when a blizzard hit the Atlantic seaboardWings forward Drew Westervelt has six goals and a couple of assists in the two previous games against the Titans; while Geoff Snider has picked up 27 loose balls and won 32 of 46 faceoffs (.667 pct.) in the two contestsIn Orlando's 11-9 win, the Titans played without Casey Powell, Bill Greer and the Peyser brothersMatt Vinc was sensational in both wins, allowing just 15 goals and stopping 84 of 99 shots (.848 save percentage).

SERIES NOTES VS. MINNESOTA

This weekend marks the 7th meeting between the Titans and Swarm, with Minnesota holding a 4-2 series advantageone of Orlando's wins came in the post-season, an 11-8 first round win in 2008counting Saturday night's game, six of the seven games have been played in MinnesotaOrlando won the last meeting, 12-10. back on 4/18/09Casey Powell had a goal and six assists and Matt Vinc stopped 50 of 58 shots in that contest.

BOYLE/McLELLAN HAVE PLAYED IN THEM ALL

Given the extreme physical nature of professional indoor lacrosse, combined with the travel issues and professional non-playing careers most players deal with on a weekly basis, it's pretty impressive when any NLL player can put together a lengthy consecutive games played streak. Enter the names of Titans' forwards Ryan Boyle and Mike McLellan on that very special list. Since the Titans organization began play in 2007, Boyle and McLellan are the only two players to have appeared in all 67 games in franchise history (62 regular season games, five post-season). Titans forward Pat Maddalena is not too far behind, having played in 65 of the possible 67 games. Maddalena has been something of an "Ironman" in his career, missing just five of 174 games since his rookie year in 2000. He was held out of action last week against the Bandits (coach's decision).

TEAM NOW ACCEPTING 2011 DEPOSITS

The Orlando Titans are now accepting season ticket deposits for the 2011 season when the Titans move into the luxurious new Amway Events Center. A $50 per seat deposit will establish seating priority for both the new building and will also establish priority privileges for the 2010 playoffs. Call the Titans Ticket Office at 407-601-6516 for more information.

TITANS CAN REACH 10-WIN PLATEAU FOR SECOND TIME

With one win in their final two games, the Orlando Titans can reach the 10-win mark in the regular season for a second consecutive year. Two wins would give the Titans the franchise record for wins in a regular season. The Titans Final Regular Season Records:

2007 New York Titans 4-12

2008 New York Titans 9-7

2009 New York Titans 10-6

2010 Orlando Titans 9-5 (2 games remaining)

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National Lacrosse League Stories from April 21, 2010


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