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Friday, February 5, 2010 - 10:00 pm CST
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| West | W | L | GB | +/- | East | W | L | GB | +/- | |
| Washington | 5 | 0 | - | 21 | Toronto | 3 | 1 | - | 17 | |
| Edmonton | 3 | 1 | 1.5 | 0 | Rochester | 3 | 2 | 0.5 | -4 | |
| Colorado | 2 | 3 | 3.0 | -9 | Orlando | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 6 | |
| Minnesota | 1 | 3 | 3.5 | -8 | Boston | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | -9 | |
| Calgary | 1 | 3 | 3.5 | -1 | Philadelphia | 1 | 3 | 2.0 | -4 | |
| Buffalo | 1 | 4 | 2.5 | -9 |
| Minnesota | Overall | Home | Road | Home-2009 | Road-2009 |
| vs Washington | |||||
| vs San Jose 2005 - 2009 | 4-1 | 2-0 | 2-1 | 1-0 | 0-1 |
| vs San Jose-Playoffs | |||||
| Total | 4-1 | 2-0 | 2-1 | 1-0 | 0-1 |
| Numerical Roster | Picture Roster | Stats |
| Goaltenders | Defense (Left) | Defense (Right) | Forwards (Left) | Forwards (Right) |
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| General Manager | Head Coach | Assistant | Assistant |
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| Roster | Picture Roster | Stats |
| Goaltenders | Defense (Left) | Defense (Right) | |
| 00-Tyler Richards | 25-Eric Martin | 11-Kyle Sorensen | |
| 33-Matt Roik | 23-Mike Grimes | 6-Curtis Hodgson | |
| 22-Wade Dewolff | 2-Matt Beers | ||
| 13-Brett Manney | |||
| Transition (Left) | Transition (Right) | Forward (Left) | Forward (Right) |
| 18-Kyle Hartzell | 9-P:aul Rabil | 42-Lewis Ratcliff | 67-Jeff Zywicki |
| 47-Jason Bloom | 29-Cam Sedgwick | 10-Rhys Duch | |
| 39-Jamison Koesterer | 4-Peter Morgan | 15-Luke Wiles | |
| 12-Ben Hunt | 8-Tom Johnson | 19-Kory Kowalyk | |
| 16-Joel Dalgarno |
| General Manager | Head Coach | Assistant | Assistant | Assistant | Assistant |
| Dave Locker | Chris Hall | Dave Evans | Mike Lum | Dan Stroup | Art Webster |
This is the third game in a row that yours and mine favorite local professional indoor lacrosse team, the Minnesota Swarm (1-3), play a team with a zero in their record. Unlike the previous two opponents, this week's opponent, the Washington Stealth (5-0), have a zero in the loss column instead of in the win column.
The Swarm enter the game on a two game losing streak after falling to the Bandits in Buffalo by a score of 11-7 last Saturday night. Apart from two goals each from Callum Crawford and Aaron Wilson, the Swarm had issues when it came to putting the biscuit in the basket. Just like last year, the Swarm are shooting a lot but the shots are off their mark with much too many not getting on net. And that was with just six forwards last weekend in the line up. They should have a seventh in the lineup at least with the return of Zack Greer, who did not play last weekend. The left side of the offense must increase their production as this season, six players have scored only eleven goals while the four players who have played on the right side have eighteen goals already. If the threat from the left side does not materialize, the tougher road it will be for the righthanders to get to the net with the extra attention they will get from the opponent's defense.
The Stealth are going in the right direction in their new home in Everett, Washington. They used to be in San Jose from 2004 to 2009 but attendance in the Bay Area was a bit on the low side, so they decided to move to Everett which is around 35 miles or so northeast as the Swarm buzzes or the crow flies from Seattle. Attendance is still an issue but their on the floor product is producing.
The Stealth do not have trouble ripping twine as they lead the league in goals scored. Jeff Zywicki leads the league in scoring with 13 goals and 22 assists. He will be right around the crease giving the Swarm fits. Last year's NLL Rookie of the Year Rhys Duch is doing well in his second season with 8 goals and 17 assists and the Stealth picked up Lewis Ratcliff in the off season from Toronto and he leads the league in goals with 14.
Tonight will be a rematch of the great Duke-Johns Hopkins battles in the NCAA as our own Zack Greer from Duke will meet up Paul Rabil from Johns Hopkins for the first time in NLL play. They battled twice in the NCAA championship in 2005 and 2007 with Johns Hopkins coming out on top in both games. Greer is in his first NLL season while Rabil is showing marked improvement in his second. While Greer is used more on offense in the NLL, Rabil is used as more of a two way player in the league which is a role he seems to be growing well into. Greer appears to be on the same learning curve that Rabil was on last year so expect better from Greer in the near future.
Both teams rely on two goaltenders to get the job done but the use of their goaltenders are different. For the Swarm, they have started Nick Patterson in all four games, but have been giving him the quick hook the last couple of weeks. That means Kevin Croswell has come in relief and he has done an above average job. Has Head Coach Mike Lines lost some confidence in Patterson as the season has progressed or is he panicking a bit too much at the slightest trouble? If he has lost confidence, will he turn to Croswell to start Friday night and put him as the #1? Even if Patterson starts, will he be looking over his shoulder after the first goal given up? So the Swarm now have a good tandem but it is in some turmoil. The Stealth actually rotate starts between Tyler Richards and Matt Roik. If that rotation is still in use, it will be the veteran Matt Roik in net Friday night for the Stealth. The Stealth are the only team in the league that regularly rotates the starts in net and so far so good in 2010. So the Stealth have a good tandem which is staying the course through all their winning.
This game will be the latest start of a game in Swarm history. 10:00 pm central is the start time, so fans should get home from work, set the alarm for about 9:45 and take a nap so they are ready to gather around their computer and cheer the Swarm onto victory. The ones really hurting are all those parents of players in Ontario like Sean Pollock's father, Charley, who has to be up at 11:00 eastern to watch his son. By the time the game begins, the Swarm will be hosting the Stealth on February 13.
The Swarm were 4-1 against the Stealth while that team resided in San Jose, with the loss being in the last game between the two teams last April, a 18-8 thrashing which is top three in worst Swarm losses in team history. That game was the last game Patterson started in 2009 as Croswell took for the last three games. Andrew Watt did not play again after that game in 2009 as he finished the season a healthy scratch. That win propelled the Stealth to an eventual West Division final while the loss pretty much derailed the Swarm's playoff chances, which were only kept alive by the futility of Colorado and Edmonton for the battle for fourth place.
I am looking for quite a high scoring affair Friday night. Both teams offenses should get their goals but will the Swarm be able to keep up with the Stealth, who have scored big numbers consistently all year. My hunch right now is Croswell may get the start which may give a boost to the team and it will be kept close but in the end I see a shocker, a Stealth win by one. Watch tonight's game as it will be a preview of the Swarm's next home game on Saturday, February 13 when the Swarm welcome the Stealth to The Hive.
