 Minnesota Swarm 6-5
(Home 1-3 Road 5-2)
vs.
 Buffalo Bandits 5-4
(Home 3-2 Road 2-2)
March 24th, 2006, 7;00 pm CST
Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul MN
TV/Internet/Radio Coverage:
Live: B2 Networks: https://www.b2livetv.com/bp/nll.htm $6.00 per game
Live statistics at: www.pointstreak.com
Minnesota Swarm website: www.mnswarm.com
Minnesota Swarm message board: http://boards.mnswarm.com/forums/
National Lacrosse League website: www.nll.com
NLL message board: http://www.wingszone.com/nllmb/
Series
Overall: Buffalo 4-1
Home Overall: Buffalo 2-0
Road Overall: Buffalo 2-1
This Season: Tied 1-1
Home This Season: N/A
Road This Season: Buffalo 1-1
This season, the two teams have split and both games were in Buffalo. On February 18th, Buffalo beat Minnesota 14-9. Minnesota tied up the season series on March 4th with a 11-8 win. Whoever wins on Friday will win the season series tiebreaker.
East Division Standings
- Rochester Knighthawks 7-5 (2-0 v. Swarm) Swarm lose tiebreaker
- Toronto Rock 7-5 (1-0 v. Swarm) Tiebreaker undecided
- MINNESOTA SWARM 6-5 (3-5 IN DIVISION)
- Philadelphia Wings 6-5 (1-2 v. Swarm) Swarm win tiebreaker
- Buffalo Bandits 5-4 (Series tied 1-1) Tiebreaker undecided
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Swarm Notes
The Minnesota Swarm have won two games in a row after a come from behind victory in Portland over the
Lumberjax by the score of 14-12 on March 17th. #44 Ryan Ward scored three goals and seven assists in the game.
The Swarm were behind 11-8 going into the fourth quarter but finished with a six to one run for the win.
The victory is the Swarm's fifth on the road this season which is a team record. Also, with their sixth
victory of the season, the Swarm have won the most games in a season in team history exceeding last year's
victory total of five. The Buffalo Bandits got back over .500 with an overtime 14-13 victory over the
Rochester Knighthawks in Rochester on March 18th.
This game is the final game of the regular season series between both teams. Each have won a game
from each other and with a victory on Friday night, the victor will rack up another head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Swarm have struggled at home with an 1-3 record and have not been home since a February 10th 11-10 victory
over the Philadelphia Wings.
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The Swarm defense will face a potent Bandit offense. #54 Jason Crosbie, acquired in a trading deadline
trade from Arizona, will give the Bandits an extra boost offensively. #11 John Tavares (17g 34a) is the
leader on offense, however, in two games against the Swarm this season, he has only scored one goal but has
dished out seven assists. #77 Riley Kemp should get a majority of time guarding Tavares but often Tavares will
be double teamed. When Tavares distributes, his number one option has been #9 Mark Steenhuis (18g 15a).
A dangerous and flashy player, Steenhuis gots a cannon for a shot but All- Star #50 Ryan Cousins
should be all over him like a blanket to reduce Steenhuis' production. If the Swarm force a
few turnovers, expect Kemp, #24 Brock Boyle, #23 Jon Sullivan and the newest Swarm #18
Andrew Biers to quickly breakout on transition for easy or not so easy goals.
The Swarm offense picked up momentum in the fourth quarter of last weekend's game in Portland.
#44 Ryan Ward (14g 34a) is the team's leading scorer. Ward this season has often found the open man
and lately that player benefiting from Ward's generosity has been #22 Kasey Beirnes (14g 21a) who has
scored three goals each in the last two games, of which Ward assisted on five of them. #11 Kelly Hall
(16g 9a) has continued to be a force on the Swarm power play having scored six goals man up in the
last three games. #18 Spencer Martin (2g 4a) and #8 Rory McDade (1g 3a) have been inserted in the line
up during the two game winning streak and both have given a boost to the offense near the crease. #17
Sean Pollock (10g 15a) and #10 Chad Culp (15g 20a) have been steady from both the right and left side.
#40 Jamie Taylor (7g 19a) has struggled recently even being a healthy scratch from last weekend's game
but expect Taylor to crank it up. The Bandit defense plays well together even if largely anonymous.
They are very physical but quick. Expect Bandits defensemen like #17 Kyle Laverty, #3 Billy Dee Smith
and #6 Chris White to be in the faces of the Swarm offensive players and to get them to possibly lose their cool.
The Swarm are expected to start #1 Matt Disher (1-3 11.07 GAA .777 Save %) in goal. Disher's last game and only win of the season was against the Bandits on March 4th. In the Swarm 11-8 victory, Disher saved 46 of 54 shots, held Taveras goal less and earned NLL Overall and Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts. The Bandits should counter with #30 Steve Dietrich (5-4 9.87 GAA .809 Save %) who has played all the minutes in goal for the Bandits except for thirty this year. However, don't be surprised if Head Coach Darris Kilgour starts #29 Ken Montour in goal on Friday and save Dietrich for Saturday's game in Buffalo against the current number one rival, the Rochester Knighthawks. Montour was acquired early this month from the Arizona Sting to back up Dietrich down the stretch but has not yet seen action this season.
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With the practically claustrophobic playoff race in both divisions right now, the old cliche
that every game is a playoff game rings very true for both teams. I would say the Bandits are
looking past the Swarm and ahead to the Knighthawks on Saturday except for, the Bandits had
their posteriors kicked in on March 4th by the Swarm. The Swarm play four of their last five
games at home beginning Friday. They need to start the homestand off on the right foot and
since the Swarm have not been home in six weeks, the Swarm will want to show the home fans
what they have only seen on B2 for the past month and a half. The Swarm continue to play
well as a team and that trend continues on Friday night with a 11-10 victory.
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Swarm Righties
#44 Ryan Ward
#22 Kasey Beirnes
#17 Sean Pollock
#8 Rory McDade
Swarm Lefties
#10 Chad Culp
#11 Kelly Hall
#40 Jamie Taylor
#15 Spencer Martin (changed # this week)
#73 Dean Hill
Swarm Defense
#50 Ryan Cousins
#23 Jon Sullivan
#24 Brock Boyle
#55 Michael Kilby
#77 Riley Kemp
#12 Eric Pacey
#16 Noah Talbot
#18 Andrew Biers
#33 Shawn Summerfield
#47 Travis Hill
#28 Nolan Heavenor
Swarm Face Off
#39 Mark Miyashita (49 of 122, 40.1%)
Swarm Goalies
#93 Nick Patterson
#1 Matt Disher
Swarm General Manager
Marty O'Neill
Swarm Head Coach
Adam Mueller
Swarm Assistant Head Coaches
Paul St. John
Derek Moffat
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Bandits Righties
#7 Jon Harasym (former Swarm)
#15 Dan Teat
#99 Delby Powless
#97 Bryan Kazarian
Bandits Lefties
#11 John Tavares
#54 Jason Crosbie
#8 A.J. Shannon
#93 Kim Squire
#81 Roger Vyse
Bandits Two-Way Player
#9 Mark Steenhuis (R)
Bandits Defense
#17 Kyle Laverty
#3 Billy Dee Smith
#32 Chris Langdale
#16 Rich Kilgour
#23 Pat McCready
#27 Kyle Couling
#6 Chris White
#2 Troy Bonterre
#5 Clay Hill
#77 Jeff Shattler
Bandits Face Off
#72 Cory Bomberry (90 of 191, 47.1%)
Bandits Goalies
#30 Steve Dietrich
#29 Ken Montour
Bandits General Manager & Head Coach
Darris Kilgour
Bandits Assistant Head Coaches
Troy Cordingley
Duane Jacobs
Next, the Swarm will host the Toronto Rock at the Xcel Energy Center on April 1st, 2006 at 7:00pm CST.
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