Minnesota Swarm (8-7 H 3-4 A 5-3)

vs
Portland LumberJax (9-5 H 4-3 A 5-2)

April 15th, 2006, 7:00 pm CST
Xcel Energy Center
St. Paul, Minnesota

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/

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Series

Overall: Swarm 1-0
Overall Home: N/A
Overall Road: Swarm 1-0
This year Home: N/A
This year Road: Swarm 1-0

The Swarm won the only match up between the two teams 14 - 12 in Portland on March 17th. #44 Ryan Ward scored three goals and seven assists to lead the Swarm on a 6-1 4th Quarter run to overtake the Lumberjax. #10 Brock Boyle got the game winning goal and #93 Nick Patterson made 37 of 49 saves for the victory.

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Standings in the East Division

1. Y-Buffalo Bandits 10-4 (Buffalo 2-1 v Swarm)
2. Toronto Rock 8-7 (Series tied at one) Toronto wins tiebreaker due to better divisional record
3. Rochester Knighthawks 8-7 (Knighthawks 3-0 v Swarm)
4. MINNESOTA SWARM 8-7 (4-7 in Division)
5. Philadelphia Wings 7-7 (Swarm 2-1 v Wings)

Standings in the West Division

1. X-Calgary Roughnecks 9-5
2. X-Portland Lumberjax 9-5
3. X-Colorado Mammoth 8-6
4. Arizona Sting 6-8
5. San Jose Stealth 5-9
6. Edmonton Rush 1-14

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This weekend's schedule (End of Regular Season)

Friday April 14th
Philadelphia at Buffalo
Edmonton at Portland
San Jose at Arizona
Calgary at Colorado

Saturday April 15th
Portland at MINNESOTA SWARM
Toronto at Rochester
Buffalo at Philadelphia
Colorado at Calgary
Arizona at San Jose

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Minnesota Swarm Playoff Scenarios

1. The Swarm can't host a first round playoff game.
2. If the Swarm win on Saturday, they will be in the playoffs. They will be the third seed and play the winner of this weekend's Toronto-Rochester match up on the road.
3. If the Swarm lose and Philadelphia loses at least one of two, the Swarm will be in the playoffs and be the fourth seed and play in Buffalo.
4. If the Swarm lose and Philadelphia wins both games this weekend, the Swarm will not make the playoffs.

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The Minnesota Swarm are coming off a 9-8 overtime victory over the San Jose Stealth on Sunday, April 9th at the Xcel Energy Center. #40 Jamie Taylor scored the game winner 1:35 into overtime. This was the first home overtime game for the Swarm in their history. Last year, the Swarm played twice in overtime on the road going 1-1. Coincidentally, the Swarm's overtime victory last year was against the Anaheim Storm was exactly one year earlier on April 9th. The Swarm won 12-11 and the game winner was scored by Taylor. Very eerie. #73 Dean Hill in his NLL debut scored four goals to lead the Swarm. #22 Kasey Beirnes was the leading point getter with two goals and three assists. #93 Nick Patterson won his sixth game in goal saving 40 of 48 shots.

The Portland Lumberjax won their fourth straight last weekend beating the San Jose Stealth 9-6 on Friday, April 7th in San Jose. The Lumberjax held the Stealth scoreless for the first 35 minutes to take a 6-0 lead. They held off a furious 2nd half rally by San Jose to get the win. Portland plays at home on April 14th against the Edmonton Rush before the come to St. Paul. They are in the running for the first seed in the West. With a win in one of their last two games, Portland will get a first round home playoff win. If they win both this weekend and Calgary loses one of two or if they win once and Calgary loses twice, the Lumberjax will win the West Division. Therefore, this game is very critical for both teams.

The Swarm defense will have a tough task against the big and improving Lumberjax offense. #44 Peter Morgan (20g 23a) has emerged to lead the Jax offense. The 6' 6" lefthander will use his size to get into good scoring position. With his 6'8" brother #33 Richard (8g 9a), the Morgans will be a handful for the Swarm. #90 Mike Hominuck (22g 21a) is the other potent left-handed scoring threat. On the right side, #22 Ryan Powell (11g 18a) and #3 Del Halladay (16g 17a) will be the main threats. The Swarm will with their muscle against the big trees of the Lumberjax. The muscle is #50 Ryan Cousins (2g 6a), #55 Michael Kilby (2g 2a), #12 Eric Pacey (2g 3a) and #23 Jon Sullivan (2g 5a). When the muscle wears the Jax down, #16 Noah Talbot (0g 7a 74 loose balls) will be scooping up the turnovers and getting it out to the speed on defense for transition goals. The speed comes with #10 Brock Boyle (13g 10a), #18 Andrew Biers (4g 8a), #39 Mark Miyashita (4g 7a) and #77 Riley Kemp (3g 7a). These are the nine guys the Swarm will ride into this weekend and the playoffs.

The Swarm offense will have to wary of three of the best offensive defensemen in the league, #17 Brodie Merrill (17g 27a) is the Lumberjax's leading scorer, the leading Rookie of the Year candidate and even in contention amongst some for league MVP all in his first year. With 196 loose balls, Merrill is second only behind the Rock's Jim Veltman who has 214. With all the turnovers cause by his great play and his physicality, Merrill is often the player who stirs the drink for the Lumberjax on both offense and defense. #49 Bruce Alexander (11g 29a) has had a fantastic year himself and #26 Ryan Sharp (14g 14a) has come out of nowhere to help make the Lumberjax a very dangerous defense.

With that in mind, the Swarm counter with an offense that needs to come up with huge performance to get into the playoffs. Over the last four games, the Swarm have averaged only 9.75 goals per game. Their last game they scored more than eleven goals was against the Lumberjax on March 17th when the scored a season high fourteen. The right side of the Swarm offense has outperformed the left side often in the last month. #44 Ryan Ward (18g 47a) has been the conductor on offense. Ward has taken charge of the offense, getting the players in position and finding the open man. #22 Kasey Beirnes (22g 27a) leads the Swarm in goals and has become Ward's number one option. If Ward finds Beirnes in position on the pick and roll, Beirnes should get the pass and take it to the net every time. #17 Sean Pollock has contributed three points per game over the last five. It looks like Pollock is just starting to hit his stride finally.

The left side of the offense has been in flux; however, in the game against the Stealth, the four lefthanders came through. #19 Chad Culp (19g 30a) has struggled recently after starting strong but against San Jose he notched four assists. Culp continually gets hammered going to the net but has been able to keep plugging away. With #11 Kelly Hall (16g 9a) out with an injury for the foreseeable future, #40 Jamie Taylor (8g 23a) will have to step up. Taylor, admittedly, has struggled like Culp recently but the game winning overtime goal, his first since February 18th against Buffalo, may be the tonic he needs. #15 Spencer Martin (6g 6a) has been the most consistent lefthander having scored four goals in the last three games. Three of those goals came in the fourth quarter in critical victories over Toronto and San Jose. Head Coach Adam Mueller will have a tough decision if Hall is still unable to play. Who will be the fourth lefthander to dress, #8 Rory McDade (1g 4a) or #73 Dean Hill (4g 0a). McDade had been the man for five straight games until Sunday against San Jose. In that game, Hill made his NLL debut scoring four goals. Hill, the Swarm's 2005 fifth round draft choice, has good size and a nose for the net. Both have performed well in their first year. My hunch is that Mueller will go with McDade who has already played against the Lumberjax earlier this season.

The tougher and more important decision for Mueller is , who will get the start in goal? Both #1 Matt Disher (2-5 10.48 GAA .779 Save %) and #93 Nick Patterson (6-2 10.45 GAA .789 Save %) performed well last weekend. Disher stopped 46 of 56 in a 10-9 loss to Rochester on April 8th and Patterson stopped 40 of 48 against San Jose. Disher is the more experienced goalie and has performed best in the last month. Patterson beat the Lumberjax earlier this year and has gotten two of the three home wins for the Swarm. Earlier this month, I predicted Patterson would start this game but I got a hunch Disher will get the start based on his better performance in the 2nd Half of the season. The Lumberjax have to play Edmonton the night before in Portland. Edmonton is 1-14 and has already lost twice to Portland this year. Even with the Edmonton game at home, #30 Matt King (2-2 11.87 GAA .759 Save %) probably will get the start. That means #35 Dallas Eliuk ( 6-3 11.56 GAA .762) should get the start against the Swarm. Eliuk is the greatest goalie in NLL history. He has played fifteen years and has been the winning goaltender four times in the NLL championship. Eliuk has been through this before and that could be the difference.

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Even with Eliuk in goal, the rest of the Lumberjax will have to play the night before in a very important game for playoff seeding. The Swarm will be ready and waiting for them and I believe the Swarm should be able with great difficulty take this game in overtime 12-11 in a game to remember. The Swarm will be going to the playoffs and who knows what may happen.

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Swarm Righties

#44 Ryan Ward
#22 Kasey Beirnes
#17 Sean Pollock

Swarm Lefties

#19 Chad Culp
#40 Jamie Taylor
#11 Kelly Hall
#15 Spencer Martin
#73 Dean Hill
#8 Rory McDade

Swarm Defense

#50 Ryan Cousins
#10 Brock Boyle
#16 Noah Talbot
#23 Jon Sullivan
#12 Eric Pacey
#77 Riley Kemp
#18 Andrew Biers
#55 Michael Kilby
#28 Nolan Heavenor
#47 Travis Hill
#33 Shawn Summerfield

Swarm Face Off

#39 Mark Miyashita (78 of 188, 41.5%)

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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Lumberjax Righties

#22 Ryan Powell
#3 Del Halladay
#63 Thomas Montour

Lumberjax Lefties

#11 Shawn Cable
#90 Mike Hominuck
#44 Peter Morgan
#33 Richard Morgan
#8 Ryan Marshall

Lumberjax Defense

#17 Brodie Merrill
#2 Ray Guze (Former Swarm)
#49 Bruce Alexander
#20 Adam Bysouth
#7 Matt Dwane
#36 Luke Forget
#9 Brandon McKinnon
#55 David Morgan
#21 Damien Davis
#26 Ryan Sharp

Lumberjax Face Off

#14 Ryder Bateman (26 of 73, 35.6%)(Former Swarm)
#12 Pat Jones (128 of 294, 43.5%)

Lumberjax Goalies

#35 Dallas Eliuk
#30 Matt King
#77 Aaron Bold

Lumberjax General Manager & Head Coach

Derek Keenan

Lumberjax Assistant Head Coaches

Jeremy Tallevi
Jeff McComb

If the Swarm make the playoffs, no, when the Swarm make the playoffs, they will either play Buffalo, Rochester or Toronto on the road on either April 21st, 22nd or 23rd.