Chicago debuts at Sears Centre against New York

[Sonny]

SHAMROX VS TITANS IN EXPANSION TEAM BATTLE

The National Lacrosse League will make it's Chicago debut tonight as the Chicago Shamrox host the New York Titans at 8:30 PM Eastern / 7:30 PM Central. The two new expansion franchises in the NLL will meet at the brand new Sears Centre. The match-up will be broadcast on VERSUS as the second installment of Saturday Night Lacrosse, presented by Dodge Nitro, airing at 10:00 PM Eastern.

The waiting is over. It's been months since the New York Titans and the Chicago Shamrox were formally introduced as new members of the National Lacrosse League. The two teams have been hard at work assembling their teams and are ready to make their NLL debut.

"It's been pretty exciting," said Titans Head Coach Adam Mueller. "After weeks and weeks of hard work, the guys are excited to play their first game."

"This is exciting for everyone," said Shamrox Head Coach Jamie Batley. "We've put together a pretty competitive team and at this point and we're really looking forward to our first game."

Batley and the Shamrox have concentrated on defense while building their roster, acquiring former Defenseman of the Year Cam Woods, as well as veterans Darryl Gibson, Carter Livingstone and Drew Candy. In goal the Shamrox will look to proven starting goaltender, Brandon Miller who was the first overall selection in this year's expansion draft.

"We've put together a good defensive team and we're quick in transition," said Batley, who has narrowed it down to one key factor for the Shamrox to be successful this season. "We have to be the hardest working team on the floor."

Adam Mueller has similar sentiments about the Titans. "We have great pieces to get there (playoffs). It could be year one, could be year two. It's up to the players. Being the hardest working team is what will get us there."

The Titans bring a lineup to Saturday night's game with a few key decorated stars, as former All-Star Casey Powell and former All-Pro Roy Colsey make a return to the league to play for the Titans. Joining them on the Titans roster is 2005 NLL Rookie of the Year Ryan Boyle, 2004 NLL Championship Game MVP Curtis Palidwor, first round draft pick Brendan Mundorf and former Arizona Sting star Pat Maddalena.

"I think for the brand of lacrosse we want to play we picked the best available athletes," said Mueller, who helped the Minnesota Swarm reach the playoffs last season. "We have a lot of energy with a lot of talented guys on the floor. Up and down the roster we have experienced players. It's going to take some time to gel together, but I like the pieces we have."

With a solid roster, the Titans debut at Chicago on Saturday and play their home opener on January 20th at Madison Square Garden.

[Phantanimal]

I saw the Titans play the Wings out in Jersey last month in a pretty raucous pre-season game. The Titans won 14-6 and the game was called with three minutes left in the fouth because too many fights had occured. Boyle played very well, but the other "stars" weren't there. I think the Titans are going to have a great season considering they have a lot of experience coming from the non-protected players of the NLL's top teams.

[bste_lax]

My buddy went to the game tonight, good times he said.

I guess they announced about 8500 for the fans, not bad.

[Hi-Line Lax]

I was at the game tonight and I can say it was a good time. I've seen games in Denver, Portland, and Philadelphia and the Chicago fans/environment had it going on... I thought it was a great opening night. Keeper Brandon Miller played a sick game and Woods and Candy played well on D. Casey Powell looked good for New York, as expected, although I don't think he worked that well with Boyle...maybe I just expected more. Fun times...hope they can help keep things going for lacrosse in Chicago because the Machine are a disaster.