New York Titans 2026 Preview: How Strong?

By: Ryan Leary

Last Season: 

The 2025 iteration of the New York Titans had only one goal: repeat. After lifting the Benepe Cup at the end of the previous summer, New York came into the year hungry to stay at the top of the MLQ food chain. The Titans brought back a majority of their championship roster and even added star talent like Byron Ng and Leo Fried, who returned from a lone season with the Detroit Innovators. 

It’s safe to say non-playing coaches Jacob Ehrlich and Jack Levy had a plethora of weapons at their disposal, from USNT superstars and longtime Titan veterans, to new Development Academy additions and rising college breakouts. Every piece in New York was strategically placed to stay champions come August. 

The season started off steady, with a convincing sweep of the Washington Admirals. A few weeks later in Boston, the Titans showed signs of fissure, dropping a game to the Boston Forge, but ultimately came out with a 2-1 series win and another East Division crown wrapped up. After a break for the IQA World Cup, New York hosted Charlotte and swept the Aviators comfortably. A month later, they faced off again in the MLQ Championship quarterfinals, which ended in another sweep. 

A highly anticipated rematch followed, when the Titans took on the Chicago Prowl. In a three-game thriller, where no lead was safe, New York squeezed out multiple wins to move on to their fourth championship series in MLQ history. Their semifinal win over the Prowl might have emptied too much from the tank, as the San Antonio Soldados sunk the Titans chances at repeat glory.   

In 2026, the New York Titans seek to bounce back from the disappointing end to their 2025 campaign. The Titans bring in a new look, a revamped roster, with the hopes of punching their ticket to three straight finals. 

2026 Roster Breakdown: 

Returning Players:

Christian Barnes (Reign QC)

Colin Gaines (Chaos)

Tate Kay (NJ Dice)

Jason Rosenberg (NJ Dice)

Isaac Serna-Diaz (NJ Dice)

Shreena Shah (NJ Dice)

Michael Li (NJ Dice)

Anna Blanchfield (NJ Dice)

Jahved Cole (unaffiliated)

Shakthi Kodeswaran (NJ Dice)

Lindsay Marella (NJ Dice)

Molly Potter (NJ Dice)

Shefaali Sivabada (NJ Dice)

Leo Fried (NJ Dice)

Vincent Iannucci (NJ Dice)

Frank Minson (NJ Slice)

Rookies:

Joe Colantuono (Rutgers)

Rebecca Itty (RPI)

Max Semegran (NJ Dice)

Unique Zhang (Brandeis)

Jalen Brooks (Rutgers)

Aslıhan Helvacı (NJ Dice)

Manvi Kona (Rutgers)

Aidan Perez (UCLA)

Additions:

Justin Cole (Transfer from Chicago Prowl) 

Adeoluwa Ojo (NY practice squad, Boston Forge) 

Christopher Balasa (Returning to roster) 

Zachary Donofrio (Transfer from Boston Forge) 

Nivash Jayaram (Transfer from Kansas City Stampede)

Alexandria Raffa (Returning to roster) 

Notable Losses:

Annika Kim

Avery Olivar

Byron Ng

Devin Lee

Jonathan Jackson → Detroit Innovators

Kellan Cupid

Matthew Cooper

Mo Haggag

Phil Cain

Rachel Ayella-Silver

Ryan Leary → Boston Forge

Tessa Cicco

Vincent Cicco

Zach Armantrading

This Season: Looking to the future or recapturing the past?

There is a big question mark looming over the 2026 Titans. New York comes into this summer looking to bounce back after their loss in the finals to San Antonio last year, but is only returning half of their 2025 roster. 16 players return from last year, and only nine Titans remain from the 2024 championship run. 

Of the 14 new additions to New York, three transfers stand out. Nivash Jayaram, Justin Cole and Zachary Donofrio look to add a new spark and fit their unique skill sets and star power into this roster. Most of the Titans new additions are rookies or call ups from the practice squad, who hopefully can add a youthful punch to this New York squad. 2025 practice squad standouts Joe Colantuono, Jalen Brooks and Manvi Kona join a long list of Rutgers players to don the Titans uniforms. Additionally, young talent from the MQC, including Rebecca Itty (RPI) and Unique Zhang (Brandeis), round out a developing young class of new Titans.  

Does bringing in new stars and calling up developing talent mean the Titans have their eyes on the future instead of this season? Has New York’s championship window closed? Or will the Titans continue to rely on their veterans to keep the winning culture alive and bring the Benepe Cup back east? 

One thing that remains constant for the Titans this year is the starting line. Lindsay Marrella, Molly Potter, Fried and Mike Li all return, bringing with them years of USNT experience and an invaluable championship pedigree. Longtime Titans Tate Kay and Christian Barnes hold down the fort in the beater game, but six veteran beaters, including Kay’s beater partner Tessa Cicco, Devin Lee and beater/seeker Kellan Cupid are not on this New York team. Their transfers, such as Jayaram from Kansas City, Cole from Chicago and new addition to the USNTDA Donofrio from Boston, mean depth and more scoring opportunities in the rotation. 

Needless to say, the Titans still have options and can choose to rely on their stars or develop their rookies who can learn alongside veterans. Speaking from experience as a former Titan, learning under the best of the best allows college talent to flourish, so the youth in New York will be able to blossom come season's end. The best decision for the Titans comes from patience and creativity. If New York can mix their lines and have multiple star veterans on the same line as new and younger players, they can still achieve the dominance that is expected of them while also giving room for the next generation of Titans to shine. 

The Atlantic

With MLQ’s realignment for 2026, New York only has two regular season series lined up. The Titans head to Washington June 6 and host Boston June 20. Similar to New York, both the Admirals and Forge have a mix of seasoned veterans leading the charge and emerging younger players from college programs. With New York’s roster shake up and only a few weeks to prepare for a Washington team that remains largely the same from last year, plus a few more additions, the Admirals have a chance to steal a game against the favorites. If the Titans get valuable minutes of their new additions and their veterans and stars show up and execute like they always have, then New York still has the edge over any team in this division.  

Because they are still the Titans, and most of their heavy hitters remain on the roster, I think New York will still be able to take the series on the road. The match-up between New York and Boston is always close and even when one team has an edge over the other, games always find a way to come down to the wire. Both Titans and Forge are returning key stars and also feature a lot of new faces from college, but the Titans might still have a leg up over their rivals. 

I think the Atlantic division is more wide open than it has been the past few years, given roster turnover across the division, and I wouldn’t be shocked if another team wore the division crown come Eastern Conference champs. But I think the Titans have the firepower at the top of the roster and the budding new talent to keep their crown.    

Why They Won’t:

This team is not the same Titans that won the 2024 MLQ championship or fell just short in 2025. It’s a completely different look this year in New York, and the roster changes, such as the 14 players from 2025 that aren’t returning, might be too much to overcome. No 2024 East Division MVP Tessa Mullins who can so easily dominate the dodgeball game and no Jon Jackson who helped power the Titans over Chicago in the semifinals last year with his dual ability to carve up a defense as a facilitator and scorer and make timely stops on the other side of the pitch. Additionally, the Titans lost three female chasers (Annika Kim, Avery Olivar, Ryan Leary), along with other key assets from years past, which might hurt the depth of this team too much. 

Additionally, roster moves around the league, like a bolstered Kansas City Stampede, an always strong Chicago Prowl and San Antonio, looking to repeat as MLQ champions, might be too high a hurdle for the Titans.   

Why They Will:

It’s New York. They’re the Titans. They can find a way to win. After a devastating loss in the finals last year, the Titans will be even hungrier to find their way back to title contention this year. Additionally, for the first time in what feels like ages, no team from the NY/NJ area made the USQ club finals, which might stoke the flames higher for the Titans and make New York’s stars even more eager to put on a show and take back the Benepe Cup. 

Although they lost almost half their roster from last year, only two are rostered for other teams in 2026 (Jon Jackson in Detroit and Ryan Leary in Boston), so they won’t have to match up against many familiar faces. This year’s version of the New York Titans might look drastically different, but the culture is still the same, one where winning is expected and dominance is a given. All they need to do is follow the blueprint mapped out in past years, and they can get back to the top of MLQ.