The New York Titans of the National Lacrosse League will hold an open practice for the media on Thursday, April 17th at Madison Square Garden at 8:15pm in advance of their home game against the Chicago Shamrox on Friday, April 18 at 7:30pm. All players and coaches will be available for interview until 9pm. Practice will run until 10:30pm.
The (7-6) Titans play back-to-back games this weekend when they take on the (5-7) Chicago Shamrox on Friday, April 18 at 7:30pm at the Garden and the (9-5) Philadelphia Wings at the Wachovia Center on Saturday, April 19 at 7:30pm.
After dominating the Colorado Mammoth 14-10 at the Garden on Saturday, April 12, the Titans improved their record to 7-6 and moved up to fourth place in the East, one half game ahead of the Toronto Rock and the Rochester Knighthawks. In the NLL, the top four teams in each division earn playoff spots. With only two weeks left in the season, no team in the East has clinched a playoff berth. The Titans have the potential to clinch a spot this weekend if they win their game against the Shamrox Friday night AND their game against the Wings Saturday night at the Wachovia Center AND Rochester and Toronto each lose their games this weekend.
This is the second time the Titans play Chicago this year. On February 16, the Titans beat the Shamrox 14-9 in Chicago. Though Chicago started the season 1-7, they are currently on fire, winning their last four games.
"The win streak they've been on speaks for itself - they're going to be a confident bunch coming in and rightly so," said Titans head coach Adam Mueller about the Chicago team the Titans will face on Friday. "From my end, there's a good level of respect for those guys. They had a great first year and they're on their way to having the same kind of year this year."
The Titans have been on fire as well, winning six of their last eight games. They lead the league in power play goals with 52 and Titans' captain Casey Powell is ranked sixth in the league in points with 74 off of 28 goals and 46 assists. Titans' draw-man Jamie Hanford has dominated in the center circle all season, winning a total of 218-351 face-offs.
"Last week was a huge win, Colorado is a very experienced team," Mueller noted about the Titans victory over the Mammoth. "We played some good defense and our 5-on-5 offense was good too. [Titans goalie] Matt Vinc stepped up where we needed him to."
On Saturday, the Titans take on the second place Wings at the Wachovia Center after having split their two games this season. The Titans lost to the Wings in their first outing at the Wachovia Center 16-12, but exacted revenge on March 22 when they beat the Wings 20-13 at home.
The game on the 19th is Philly's last home game of the season and they have gone 7-0 at home. The Titans are looking to be the first team to beat the Wings on their home turf.
"Both teams are high energy so there are going to be a lot of shots, we've got about a day to prepare for the game [after playing Chicago on Friday] but we've seen them twice this season so we know what we're going into," Mueller said about the game on Saturday. "This will be the second time this season we play them in Philly, so it will be a tough one and we'll do our best."
The Titans play their last regular season game on Saturday, April 26 at 8pm at the Garden, when they take on the Rochester Knighthawks. The team plays two weekends in a row at the Garden, with home games on the 18th and the 26th.
Titans 2008 Group Tickets are still available by calling 888-8TITANS or contact the Titans at
tickets@nytitans.com. Log onto
New York Titans Pro Indoor Lacrosse for information on the Titans 2008 season schedule.
National Lacrosse League Press Release 2007
Fourth Place New York Titans Play Home And Away This Weekend
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