 Minnesota Swarm 6-6
(Home 1-4 Road 5-2)
vs.
 Toronto Rock 7-6
(Home 4-3 Road 3-3)
April 1st, 2006
Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul MN
Attendance:
TV/Internet/Radio Coverage:
Live: B2 Networks: https://www.b2livetv.com/bp/nll.htm $6.00 per game
Radio: http://www.fan590.com/index.jsp
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: Toronto 3-0
Home Overall: Toronto 1-0
Road Overall: Toronto 2-0
This Season: Toronto 1-0
Home This Season: N/A
Road This Season: Toronto 1-0
In the only match up of the season this far, the Swarm lost 13-8 to the Rock on March 3rd, 2006 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
East Division Standings
- Buffalo Bandits 7-4 (2-1 v. Swarm) Swarm lose tiebreaker
- Rochester Knighthawks 7-6 (2-0 v. Swarm) Swarm lose tiebreaker
- Toronto Rock 7-6 (1-0 v. Swarm) Tiebreaker undecided
- MINNESOTA SWARM 6-6 (3-6 IN DIVISION)
- Philadelphia Wings 6-6 (1-2 v. Swarm) Swarm win tiebreaker
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The Swarm are coming off a 13-11 loss at home against the Buffalo Bandits on March 24th, 2006. #19 Chad Culp (3g 2a),
#22 Kasey Beirnes (3g 1a) and #44 Ryan Ward (1g 4a) led the Swarm in scoring. After a furious rally to come back from
four down in the 3rd, the Swarm tied it at 10 in the 4th. But the Swarm ran afoul of the referees who took two critical
goals away from the Swarm leading to their eventual downfall. The Rock were beat at home by the Calgary Roughnecks on March
25th, 2006 by the score of 11-9. It was the first time the Roughnecks had ever beat the Rock in Toronto.
With the tight race for playoff positioning in the East and for that matter the West, every single game the rest
of the season in the league will directly affect playoff seeding. The Swarm only own a tiebreaker against Philadelphia
and in order to not lose the tiebreaker to the Rock, they will need to win the second of two games against the teams this
weekend. After a 0-4 start, the defending NLL Champion Rock won six straight but have now lost two of their last three.
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Swarm Notes
Rock Notes
The Swarm offense has been improving through the month of March; however, there are still one or two lengthy dry spells
during each game. The team over the month has settled on a steady game lineup after trying to find the right combinations
early on. #44 Ryan Ward (15g 38a) is the undisputed leader of the offense and its leading scorer. He often will be seen
setting the table as the rest of the offense moves around to get open. Ward has developed very good chemistry in the
month of March will #22 Kasey Beirnes (17g 22a) especially on the pick and roll. Down near the crease, Ward will get
the ball to #17 Sean Pollock (12g 16a) to take the shot. The Swarm offense is not only right orientated, it can depend
on solid lefthanders as well. The most solid is #19 Chad Culp (18g 22a) who leads the team in goals and exuberance as
he takes on the opposing defense to the net. #40 Jamie Taylor (7g 22a) picked up his game against Buffalo last weekend
after struggling for a period of time. His reemergence will be key offensively. When the Swarm goes on the power play,
they look for #11 Kelly Hall (16g 9a) who lead the league in power play goals (19) last year and has nine so far this
season which leaves him sixth in the league.
The Swarm will go up against a very experienced and opportunistic Rock defense. The Rock have scooped a league leading
1,022 loose balls (78.6 per game) this season. In comparison, the Swarm have only gotten 746 (62.2 per game) which is
tenth in the league. The all-time leader in loose balls in league history and again this season is #32 Jim Veltman with
185 which is 36 more than second place #17 Brodie Merrill of the Portland Lumberjax. #91 Darryl Gibson, who the Rock
acquired from the Swarm on March 14th, was an all-star for the Swarm and should make his second Rock debut against the
Swarm on Saturday. #18 Phil Sanderson is having a career year defensively for the Rock. The Rock can also get physical
defensively with the likes of #6 Dan Ladouceur and #27 Derek Suddons.
The Rock offense is one of the best in the league. They have a solid, reliable and often spectacular core of four
players who often show up on the score sheet. #7 Colin Doyle (32g 44a), last year's league MVP, is having yet another
great season. He is probably the most balanced player offensively on the team. Often, Doyle and others are fed by #19
Josh Sanderson (23g 58a) who once again is leading the league in assists. After a slow start to the season, #16 Blaine Manning
(22g 42a) has picked up speed. Finally, #10 Aaron Wilson (34g 16a) is a goal scoring machine for the Rock. Sanderson is
2nd, Doyle 3rd, Manning 7th and Wilson 17th in league scoring .
The Swarm defense did okay in the first game between the two teams this season but needs to improve. #50 Ryan Cousins
will lead the defense and also celebrate his 25th Birthday on game day. The trade of Gibson has not really been much of
a hardship for the defense, in fact, the Swarm are even playing better and more cohesively on defense. According to
General Manger Marty O'Neill, #23 Jon Sullivan is having a break out season and has often been the best defenseman
on the team this year. This year, Sullivan has had played in every game compared to just nine last year. An opportunity
has been given to Sullivan this year and he has run with it. Overall, the defense has been dramatically improved over
last year in which they gave up 14.43 goals a game, last in the league. This year they have shaved off over three goals
a game to 10.91 per game which is third in the league. Also the Swarm have reduced their time in the penalty box this year
by over eleven minutes per game. That is five less two-minute minor penalties a game that the Swarm haven't had to utilize their shorthanded defense.
The Swarm goaltending has benefited from the improved Swarm defense. That is not to say that the Swarm goaltenders
are chopped liver. They are chopped steak, prime rib, the best cut of meat. #93 Nick Patterson (5-2 10.54 GAA .794 Save %)
did well against the Rock and should be expected to start Saturday. Young,wild and flamboyant in the net, Patterson has
showed to be the best young goaltender in the league. His counterpart, #1 Matt Disher (1-4 11.28 GAA .761 Save %) has had
some great games this year but often during games that the Swarm offense has struggled. The Rock goaltender is #29 Bob Watson
(7-6 11.20 GAA .770 Save %) who has played the whole season except for thirty-six minutes. A slow starter, Watson is a
formidable and crafty goaltender who comes to shine in the games that count toward the end of the season.
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The Swarm are due against the Rock and it really is unrealistic to see the Swarm to continue to struggle at home. My prediction Swarm 10 Rock 9.
The Hive, the unofficial official Minnesota Swarm fan club will be tailgating in the Seven Corners Parking Lot.
It will begin at 4pm and go to 6pm. The parking lot is across the street from the NE corner of the Xcel Energy Center.
It is also across the street to the east of the Holiday Inn River Centre.
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Swarm Righties
#44 Ryan Ward
#22 Kasey Beirnes
#17 Sean Pollock
Swarm Lefties
#19 Chad Culp
#11 Kelly Hall
#40 Jamie Taylor
#15 Spencer Martin
#8 Rory McDade
#73 Dean Hill
Swarm Defense
#50 Ryan Cousins
#23 Jon Sullivan
#10 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 (62 of 148, 41.9%)
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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Rock Righties
#10 Aaron Wilson
#16 Blaine Manning
#25 J.J. Dickie
#15 Steve Evans
#93 Chris Driscoll
Rock Lefties
#7 Colin Doyle
#19 Josh Sanderson
#20 Rusty Kruger
#22 Matt Taylor
Rock Defense
#32 Jim Veltman
#6 Dan Ladouceur
#14 Rob Marshall
#17 Brian Beisel
#18 Phil Sanderson
#27 Derek Suddons
#91 Darryl Gibson (former Swarm)
#28 Brad MacDonald
#37 Scott Campbell (former Swarm)
#40 Ian Rubel
#77 Tim O’Brien
Rock Face Off
#9 Patrick Merrill (149 of 308, 48.4%)
Rock Goalies
#29 Bob Watson
#90 Phil Wetherup
Rock General Manager & Head Coach
Terry Sanderson
Rock Assistant Head Coaches
John Lovell
Matt Sawyer
Next weekend, the Swarm will travel to Rochester to play the Knighthawks on Saturday April 8th at 6:30 pm CST at the
Blue Cross Arena. Then on Sunday April 9th, the Swarm return home to host the San Jose Stealth at the Xcel Energy Center at 5:00pm CST.
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