The Orlando Titans are looking to make a huge impression on the local sports scene Friday night as they help open up the 24th National Lacrosse League season at Amway Arena against the Philadelphia Wings.

Indoor lacrosse makes its official debut in the state of Florida with the dropping of the ball at 7:35 p.m.

The Orlando Titans will debut at Amway Arena against Philadelphia on Friday. (Photo by J.C. Carnahan)

Last season the Titans finished as the Eastern Conference Champions, while competing out of New York, before going on to fall to the Calgary Roughnecks in the Champion’s Cup Finals, 12-10.

The Titans were lead by head coach Ed Comeau, who won a title as head coach in Rochester in 2007, as they finished the year with a 10-6 record in only their third season of play. The Titans previously finished 4-12 in 2007 and 9-7 in 2008 under former head coach Adam Mueller.

The new team in Orlando is joined by Boston, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Rochester and Toronto in the East while Calgary is joined by Denver, Edmonton, Minnesota and Washington in the Western Conference.

Opening Night Watch
Forwards Casey Powell and Pat Maddalena each have scored 101 goals for the Titans since the team’s initial season in ’07. Powell also leads the team in career assists with 150 while Maddalena has compiled 142 assists of his own. Goalie Matt Vinc leads the franchise with 1,590 saves.

Head coach Ed Comeau oversees a faceoff last week at practice. (Photo by J.C. Carnahan)

There are four Titans players who have been named to the United States 23-man roster for the FIL World Lacrosse Championship, scheduled to take place this July in England. Among them are Brendan Mundorf, Ryan Boyle, Matt Zash and Stephen Peyser, while Vinc, Matt Brown, Jordan Hall and Pat Merrill are among the potential prospects for the Canadian team.

Opening Nights Details
– Dropping the ceremonial first ball will be James Pica, junior quarterback at East River High School. Pica made the news a month back when while on his way to school one morning he witnessed a serious automobile accident on State Road 50 and pulled over to rush to the aide of a victim.

– Singing the National Anthem before the start of the game will be former ‘N Sync member, Chris Kirkpatrick.

– Pre-game festivities will also include the recognition of more than 500 local youth lacrosse players.

– Can’t make it out to the arena? Tune into ESPN 1080 AM as Marc Daniels and Dan Pearson will be on hand to call the game, or you can see all the action for yourself on Bright House Sports Network (Channel 47) with Tom Morgan leading the broadcast.

– More Orlando Titans Coverage –

Titans official Website

Jeff Leadbeater at Bleacher Report

Zach McCann at Orlando Sentinel

Bob Chavez at NLL Insider