New York Titans Season Preview: Trial to a Two-Peat?

Author: Padfoot

Last Season

The New York Titans entered last season hungry, after a 2023 semifinals loss to the Chicago Prowl in a neck–and–neck golden goal to finish their 3 game series. Feeling like the only real threat to that year’s Austin program, they bowed out and returned to their USQ seasons unfulfilled. 2024 opened with even more fire after the USQ Cup 2024 final — Warriors loss to Boom Train by 2 goals left many Titans falling to Prowl opponents yet again, albeit under a different league and teammates. Coaches Tate Kay, Tessa Mullins, and Jon Jackson were joined by non playing coach Isaac Serna-Diez to begin what would become a historical season. With 2 home and 2 away series over the summer, the Titans were spread out, with the ability to test all levels of their roster against other East Division opponents, and with their 2-1 win over Boston, they clinched the East Division championship. With a comfortable lead against first matchup the Detroit Innovators and a shaking morning win against the San Antonio Soldados, Titans cruised into the final and took advantage of a seriously injured Prowl to (yet another) one sided Benepe Cup final. Stretching the roster early to sink into few lines allowed Titans to avoid the injuries plaguing other top franchises, and they hoisted the trophy at the end of the weekend.

Returners

Annika Kim (Warriors)

Avery Olivar (NY Slice)

Christian Barnes (Warriors)

Devin Lee (Unaffiliated)

Frank Minson (NY Slice)

Jonathan Jackson (Connecticut)

Kellan Cupid (NY Slice)

Lindsay Marella (Connecticut)

Mike Li (NY Slice/Connecticut)

Mohammed Haggag (Warriors)

Molly Potter (Warriors)

Rachel Ayella-Silver (Unaffiliated)

Ryan Leary (Emerson)

Shakthi Kodeswaran (Brandeis)

Shreena Shah (Warriors)

Tate Kay (Warriors)

Tessa Cicco (Connecticut)

Vincenzo Cicco (Connecticut)

Zach Armantrading (Warriors)

Additions (R=Returner / N=New)

Byron Ng (R) (Rutgers)

Isaac Serna-Diez (R) (Warriors)

Phill Cain (R) (NY Slice)

Jahved Cole (R) (Unaffiliated)

Jason Rosenberg (R) (BosNY)

Leo Fried (R) (Connecticut)

Matthew Cooper (N) (Warriors)

Shef Sivabada (N) (NY Slice)

Anna Blanchfield (N) (Connecticut)

Colin Gaines (N) (RPI)

Vincent Iannucci (R) (NY Slice)

Notable Losses

Amiri Rivera Sillah (Emerson)

Christopher Balasa (Skyline)

Elizabeth Lawson-Keister (Unaffiliated)

Eric Pagoada (Warriors/Skyline)

Jacob Ehrlich (Warriors) 

Janice Lu (Unaffiliated)

Jason Ng (Unaffiliated)

Jason Wu (Middlebury)

Luis Mendoza (Rutgers)

Michael “Yada” Parada (Warriors)

The Season Ahead

The Titans come back this year as defending champions, but the weight of those medals means this season decides whether 2024 was a fluke or a pattern. With new non-playing coaches in Jack Levy and Jacob Ehrlich who spent all USQ season supporting/playing within the Warriors program, everyone’s looking to the season opener to see if they carry that same level of dominance to MLQ. Titans coaching staff is rounded out by the remaining coaches from the NY/NJ area. Assistant Coach Frank Minson and Practice Squad Coach Mitch Usis led New York Slice the past 2 years and look to make sure that the Titans program completes the never-achieved double as both Benepe Cup and Next Gen champions. Their season is already off to a start with the unfortunate forfeits by the Ottawa Black Bears, meaning the Titans are three games toward topping the East Division again. Their schedule lends to an early session of competition, opening at home against the Washington Admirals before traveling up to (hopefully again) beat Boston at home at the end of the month. In mid July, New York finishes out their season with three matches against Charlotte at home, and no SuperSeries means the advantage is extended by having fewer matches to play in the July heat. 

This season is all in the Titans’ favor since early matches make it less likely their opponents will have a fully cohesive strategy. And with most of this team having played in the USQ final or having multiple seasons with New York, it's a calm return to business as usual for the post pandemic powerhouses. The Titans have historically used the early season to try out different strategies before relying on athleticism to earn goals, and opening weekend may show whether we're getting something new or more of the same. With New York’s ability to score from anywhere on the field, new additions Shef Sivabada and Anna Blanchfield will add even more cutting and driving to the Titans arsenal, while beater call ups in Colin Gaines and Isaac Serna-Diez will pressure and punish any beaters caught flat footed. New addition Matthew Cooper (in his breakout season) will solidify point chaser depth and add yet another seeker to one of the deepest rotations in the country, consisting of Kellan Cupid, Vincent Iannucci, Leo Fried and Mo Haggag. 

Amidst the fresh talent on the team, New York still has at least two full lines of returners who ran the club division until they ran into each other — all over the USQ final. Look for domination in the beater game from usual pairs Tate/Tessa and Devin/Rachel, with a revolving door of pairs to round out the team at any series. At chaser, the Marella/Jackson/Li/Leary line contains drivers and shooters in any player's hand, with a swap in for Fried or Potter (newly announced to USNT) if any alternatives are needed. A pedal to the metal shift could come in a Minson/Kodeswaran/Olivar/Sivabada line to create the transition play frequently used by New York Slice during the season, while a larger line of Armantrading/Cooper/Haggag (assuming one is seeking) coupled with the defensive prowess and ball handling of Kim and Potter will widen the gap during seeker period.

Why They Won’t

The New York Titans walk into the season prepared to take the East Division title again as a team that can dominate on all sides of the ball. With two non-playing coaches (the most the program has ever had) they should be poised to move into a new tier of elite, looking to match the 2023 season’s undefeated sweep even more comfortably. However, they will need to continue to work on the cohesiveness of the team instead of simply a line-by-line spree that’s led to holes in their performance in years past. Already missing out on the Ottawa series and opening the season means opportunities to practice strategies and see them in action are few and far between, including a late June series against rivals Boston Forge at home. Repeating as champion is a notoriously difficult task, and if New York remains overconfident in their success on the season, they’ll come into champs weekend exploitable (since they’re already coming as public enemy number one). With an entire league looking for any hole in the Titans monolith, New York must stay at the top of their game to defend their title. All other east division opponents are coming into the season with film on every member of the 30 person roster, and we expect all coaches to be working any counter strategies they can.Titans’ adjustments on the fly have tended to focus on using athleticism to defeat opponents, with more rushed offense and defense as the panic sets in. With Ehrlich and Levy new to coaching this team, can they wrangle the top players in the country into a truly indomitable franchise?

Why They Will

New York has a combination of depth, athleticism, and experience that no other team in the league can match (haters say San Antonio, I say no). Their skill gives them a margin of error where they could sit all USNT during a matchup and still eke out a win comfortably. They also have a championship pedigree from MLQ, USQ and IQA that gives them a psychological edge in almost all matchups, as when the chips are down, they have plenty of players who simply know what it takes to win in a championship environment. Their coaching staff bring years of experience in development and performance in the USQ and MLQ meta, and bring a positivity that could raise the emotional strength of the franchise as competitors. This season's Titans have all the ingredients of a continuing dynasty, and, if they find their stride, they’ll run the table to add undefeated back to the East Division title this season — and not need to ship the trophy anywhere this summer.