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 Minnesota Swarm (2-1 H 0-1 A 2-0)
vs
 Rochester Knighthawks (1-1 H 1-0 A 0-1)
January 21st, 2006, 7:00 pm CST
Xcel Energy Center
St. Paul, Minnesota
TV/Internet/Radio Coverage:
Live: B2 Networks: $6.00 per game
Live statistics at: http://www.pointstreak.com
Minnesota Swarm website: http://www.mnswarm.com
Minnesota Swarm message board: http://boards.mnswarm.com
National Lacrosse League website: http://www.nll.com
NLL message board: http://www.wingszone.com/nllmb/
Series: Swarm lead 2-1, yes a Swarm all-time series lead
Swarm Notes
Knighthawks Notes
This game concludes two games in two days for the Minnesota Swarm. Friday
night they are in Calgary and Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center
hosting Rochester.
The Hive, the Unofficial Official Swarm Fan
Club, will have its second ever Swarm tailgate in the Seven Corners
Parking lot across the street from the NW entrance, intersection of
Kellogg and West Seventh, of the Xcel Energy Center. Last time 14 fans
attended, more is expected. The grill should be there just after 3 pm
and it should be getting really wild by 5 pm when kazoos will be handed
out to Swarm fans in order to cheer our team to victory. The tailgate
will finish approxiametely 6pm. See what fans are saying about the
tailgate at http://boards.mnswarm.com/forums/index.php...opic=537&st=135
More statistics on the Swarm at Pointstreak http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/teampl...56&seasonid=977
Saturday nights opponent, the Rochester Knighthawks are 1-1 after a 14-9 home
opening victory over the defending champion Toronto Rock last Saturday
night Both the Swarm and Knighthawks are tied for 3rd in the East
division.
The Knighthawks are led by #24 John Grant. As of the
beginning of the year, Grant ranks seventh in goals and tenth in points
all time in the National Lacrosse League. Depending on who you talk to,
Grant is either one, two or three in top current players along with
Buffalo's John Taveras and Toronto's Colin Doyle. He score anyway
fathomable with his fantastic stick control. The Swarm will pay alot of
attention to Grant with players like #55 Michael Kilby and #19 Darryl
Gibson hanging all over him. But Grant is not alone in Knighthawk
offensive talent. #51 Shawn Williams and #44 Mike Accursi are veteran
scorers who both accumulated over seventy points last year along with
Grant. Also, the Knighthawks have the Evans brothers, #19 Scott and
rookie #15 Shawn. Both can score and both don't back down from
confrontations.
The defense is also veteran-laden; however,
after the trade of the NLL's top defender Andrew Turner to Edmonton and
the loss of Casey Zaph, temporarily, to a brain injury in the off
season, can the Knighthawks keep up on defense. So far, they have. #17
Steve Toll maybe the fastest player in the league. So if he nabs a
loose ball, you better get on your high horse to catch him as he goes
on transition to the goal. Solid defenders like #10 Mike Hasen and #11
Regy Thorpe lead the defense while tutoring promising rookie defenseman
#25 Scott Ditzell. Two nights in a row the Swarm will face tough
defenses. #22 Kasey Beirnes, #44 Ryan Ward, et.al. will have to recover
quickly to have success Saturday night.
In goal, the
Knighthawks may have the league's best goalie in #39 Pat O'Toole. He is
a character and is fun to watch during breaks in action. But Knighthawk
fans, know he is even better to watch while in action. Either goalie
for the Swarm will have to be sharp with Grant and to keeping the Swarm
defense properly aligned to account for the others.
Main Players
Swarm Righties
#17 Sean Pollock
#22 Kasey Beirnes
#44 Ryan Ward
Swarm Lefites
#10 Chad Culp
#11 Kelly Hall
#40 Jamie Taylor
Swarm Defense
#24 Brock Boyle
#77 Riley Kemp
#50 Ryan Cousins
#23 Jon Sullivan
#55 Michael Kilby
#12 Eric Pacey
#19 Darryl Gibson
#16 Noah Talbot
Swarm Faceoff
#66 D'arcy Berthiaume
#39 Mark Miyashita
#48 Nolan Heavenor
Swarm Goalies
#1 Matt Disher
#93 Nick Patterson
Swarm Head Coach
Adam Mueller
Knighthawk Lefties
#24 John Grant
#51 Shawn Williams
#32 Ken Millin
#37 Andrew Burkholder
Knighthawk Righties
#44 Mike Accursi
#15 Shawn Evans
#19 Scott Evans
#14 Ryan O'Connor
Knighthawk Defense
#10 Mike Hasen
#17 Steve Toll
#11 Regy Thorpe
#5 Sandy Chapman
#20 Steve Penny
#42 Pat Cougevan
#25 Scott Ditzell
#2 Chris Schiller
Knighthawks Faceoff
#23 Stephen Hoar
Knighthawks Goalie
#39 Pat O'Toole
Knighthawks Coach
Ed Comeau
My prediction is Swarm 14 Knighthawks 12. A sweep of the weekend games and continued dominance over Rochester.
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