Minnesota Swarm (1-0 H 0-0 A 1-0)

vs
San Jose Stealth (0-0 H 0-0 A 0-0)

Saturday, January 10, 2009 - 7:00 pm CST
Xcel Energy Center
St. Paul, Minnesota

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Minnesota Swarm Game Center

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Regular Season History

The Swarm have won all three contests against the Stealth but only by a total of four goals. Last year, the Swarm improved to 4-0 in 2008 when they came from behind to beat the Stealth 14-12 in San Jose on February 2. Chad Culp (1g 0a) scored the game winner and Craig Point (0g 2a) scored two goals and assisted on five goals.

Rosters:

Regular Season Statistics:

2009 NLL Standings

Former Stealth With The Swarm:

• Kevin Fines (1g 1a)
• Darren Halls (0g 1a)

Former Swarm With The Stealth:

The Minnesota Swarm will start their home portion of the 2009 Regular Season in first place in the West Division after their 11-7 victory over the Portland LumberJax on January 3, 2009. They will be hosting the San Jose Stealth, last year's West regular season champs, who will have opened their regular season the previous night at home against the Calgary Roughnecks.

Does the Minnesota Swarm have a goaltender controversy? Maybe yes, maybe no but Kevin Croswell's (1-0 7.00 GAA .857 Save %) performance last Saturday in his first NLL start and victory sure spices things up between him and Nick Patterson. Expect Patterson to start against the Stealth especially since the Stealth have a decidedly more dangerous offensive weapons, but there maybe a quicker hook than many expected before last Saturday if things don't go well for the home team.

New Swarm players Kevin Ross (3g 2a), Kevin Fines (1g 1a) and Andrew Watt (0g 1a) stepped up in their first games with the Swarm. Ross was a pleasant surprise to Swarm fans as he was able to get inside to get his goals. Fines was very active on both sides of the floor and is living up to be the transition threat he is known for. Watt came in and played defense mostly (instead of his usual forward position) on Saturday due to Travis Hill, Jon Sullivan and Ryan Cousins not playing.

Both Sean Pollock (2g 4a) and Ryan Ward (2g 2a) had great starts to 2009. Pollock's goal at the end of the 1st quarter kept the Swarm in the game. The Swarm spread their shots throughout the seven man offense last Saturday with Pollock taking the most with eleven and Dean Hill (0g 1a) taking the least with five. It looks like the Swarm so far are not dependent on just one guy taking all the shots, which should keep the opponents guessing where the shot on any one possession will be coming from.

The Stealth are led offensively by Colin Doyle (27g 61a) and Jeff Zywicki (48g 42a). These two players may be the best offensive tandem in the NLL. Doyle (6th in NLL scoring in 2008) has great vision and can shoot it from anywhere. Zywicki (5th in 2008) has the ability to get open in the tightest spots and is deadly on the crease. In last year's game between these two teams, the duo combined for eight goals and twelve assists. The Stealth also are bringing in some rookies that are expected to help out on offense. They drafted two of them with the second (Paul Rabil) and third (Rhys Duch) picks in the 2008 Entry Draft. Rabil, in particular, has a lot of people interested in how the field lacrosse star will adapt to the indoor game.

The Stealth defense is led by Eric Martin (9g 10a) who was fourth in loose balls with 151 in 2008. Some even think that Martin was and is the equal if not better than Cousins when it comes to best defenseman in the league. The Stealth are expected to start Matt Roik (5-3 12.30 GAA .788 Save %) in net on Saturday. Roik did particularly well against the Swarm last season while with Chicago when he had a save percentage of .794 against the Swarm in four starts.

The Stealth have twelve new players on their team (including seven rookies) this season. They will have the opportunity the night before to see what the line up looks like against Calgary but will they be able to gel enough by the time the ball drops at the X on Saturday night. The key for the Swarm is keep the motion going on offense and limit the Stealth offense to Doyle and Zywicki. Don't let anybody else like Duch or Frank Resetarits (17g 17a) blow up. With the expected return of Cousins, Sullivan and T. Hill to the defense, the Swarm should have a stronger defense than they had against Portland. The Swarm are 3-0 against the Stealth all time but have only scored four more goals than the Stealth in those games. Expect another close game between two teams expected to battle for West Division supremacy but the Swarm have more experience and the home crowd behind them and that should be enough to get that one more goal.

Prediction: Minnesota Swarm 12 San Jose Stealth 11

Minnesota Swarm Promotions:

• Pub Sting on Thursday, January 8th at 10:00 pm
• First 5,000 Will Receive an Eric Perkins Can Coozy
• Just Born Candy giveaway
• Lights Out Dancing to perform before and after game in Wells Fargo College Level
• Will Perk Play?
• Postgame Party at Tom Reid's Hockey City Pub

Next Games After This Match Up

• Minnesota vs. Buffalo - Saturday, January 24 7:00 pm CST
• San Jose vs Rochester - Sunday, January 18 7:30 pm CST