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Minnesota Swarm

Minnesota Swarm
(2-1 H 0-1 A 2-0)

 At Buffalo Bandits

Buffalo Bandits
(2-2 H 1-0 A 1-2)

Friday, January 30, 2015 - 6:30 pm CST
First Niagara Center
Buffalo, New York


Last Update: January 29, 2015 8:04 pm Central

Live Statistics

TV/Internet/Radio Coverage:

NLL Live ($7.00 per game, $30.00 season pass)
Swarm Twitter
Bandits Twitter

More Coverage of this game at:

Minnesota Swarm Website
Buffalo Bandits Website
National Lacrosse League Website
IL Indoor.com

Standings (01/25/15) Overall Division V. Swarm  
East Division W L   W L   W L   +/-
Toronto Rock 3 1   2 1   0 0   10
Minnesota Swarm 2 1   1 0         3
New England Black Wolves 2 1   2 1   0 1   8
Buffalo Bandits 2 2   0 2   0 0   -4
Rochester Knighthawks 1 2   1 2   0 0   -9
 
West Division W L   W L   W L   +/-
Colorado Mammoth 3 0   2 0   1 0   19
Edmonton Rush 1 2   1 0   0 1   3
Vancouver Stealth 1 3   1 1   0 0   -17
Calgary Roughnecks 0 3   0 3   0 0   -13

y - Clinched home playoff game
x - Clinched playoff spot

Series History:

Minnesota Overall Home Road Home (2014) Road (2014)
vs Bandits 6-16 4-6 2-10 2-0 0-1
vs Bandits-Playoffs 0-2 0-2 0-0 0-0
Total 6-18 4-6 2-12 2-0 0-1

Last year, the two teams met three times with the home team winning each game. Fortunately for the Swarm, they hosted two of the games. The first game last year was in Buffalo, which the Bandits won 12-9 on March 8. Two weeks later, the teams met at The Hive and Callum Crawford scored the overtime winner in a 10-9 victory. That game saw both teams not score in the first quarter and they each scored the same amount of goals in each quarter until Crawford iced it in overtime. Finally on April 12, the Swarm held off a late Bandit rally with Logan Schuss delivering the game winning dagger in a 10-9 victory. Both the wins against the Bandits were the only home wins for the Swarm in 2014 season. The Swarm have lost five straight games in Buffalo with their last win in 2009. In the seven games in this series from 2012 to 2014, the home team has won every game.

Last Weekend:

The Swarm played their second straight game on the road beating New England in Uncasville, CT by a 19-13 last Saturday night. Callum Crawford had three goals and five assists and Shayne Jackson had four goals and three assists to lead the team. Defenders Jordan Houtby and Alex Crepinsek had career nights to put the Swarm over the top. It was the first division game of the season for the Swarm as they gave the Black Wolves their first loss of the season.

The Bandits played in Toronto last Friday night losing 13-11 ending their two game winning streak. Former Swarm Ryan Benesch had five goals and an assist to lead the Bandits. Anthony Cosmo saved 41 of 54 shots.

Notes:

  • The Swarm are above .500 for the first time since the end of the 2012 season when they finished 9-7
  • The Swarm are on their first two game winning streak since 2013
  • This is the last game of a three game road trip that has been quite successful for the team to this point.
  • After three games, the Swarm have 46 goals. Last year, the Swarm did not get goal 46 of the season until their sixth game of the year. After three games last season, the Swarm only had 22 goals and have doubled up on that number this season in the same amount of games.
  • Shayne Jackson has had a great start to the 2015 season and is on pace to his best season in his career. He is tenth in the NLL with nine goals. This is only his third year, so he only has to beat two years of play but Jackson is on a torrid pace to do so:
      After Three Games:
    • 2014 - 2g 2a 4pts
    • 2015 - 9g 9a 18pts

  • Zach Higgins leads the NLL with .800 save % & 9.56 GAA. Higgins played a full sixty against the Bandits in last years's 12-9 loss in Buffalo. I think with Higgins in the good groove right now, the Swarm will start him on Friday night.
  • Crawford is eighth in the NLL with 21 pts & 6th with 13 assists
  • Jordan MacIntosh is 5th in the NLL with 35 loose balls, 4th with 42 face off wins & 9th with 6 forced turnovers
  • Andrew Suitor is 4th in the NLL with 7 forced turnovers
  • Miles Thompson will have his second brother showdown this season as he will face fellow NLL rookie Jerome.
  • David Earl left the game early last Saturday with an apparent shoulder injury. There is no word on whether he will play this weekend as the Swarm are infamous this season until waiting at practically the last moment before game time to announce any line up changes.
  • Mitch Belisle should be back in the line up this weekend after missing last weekend's game as he worked the US Lacrosse Convention in Baltimore. With Jordan Houtby looking pretty good last Saturday, it would be tough to see him taken out but considering that he didn't when Belisle was able to, my hunch is that Houtby may not dress. Then again, if Earl can't go, then maybe both defenders play.
  • Former Swarm with the Bandits: Ryan Benesch, Chad Culp, Jay Thorimbert and Andrew Watt (injured reserve)
  • Benesch leads the NLL with 14 goals and fifth in the NLL with 22 points. He also leads the league with two shorthanded goals. Benesch turns the big 3-0 on game day
  • Thorimbert leads the NLL with 54 loose balls, is tied with Geoff Snider with 68 face off wins to lead the NLL and third with eight forced turnovers
  • Dhane Smith is ninth in the NLL with nine goals
  • Kevin Brownell is tenth in the NLL with 25 loose balls
  • Alex Kedoh Hill leads the NLL with 12 forced turnovers
  • John Tavares was placed on injured reserve last Saturday and his availability is in question this week. In 20 regular season games against the Swarm, Tavares has 42 goals and 65 assists with four game winners, so I am sure the Swarm won't mind not having to face him if he ends up being unavailable.
  • The Bandits travel to Rochester on Saturday, so the cliche is they can't look past the Swarm for their big rivalry game on Saturday. I don't see it with them hosting in front of a crowd that should be around 15,000 and not at home since January 3rd.

Nightmares are usually what the Swarm have left with after a game in Banditland in their history. The games in Buffalo tend to be lower scoring then the ones in Minnesota in this series. The Bandits have been pretty steady on defense this year but the Swarm have a wealth of scoring from many more players than the Bandits do and the extra one or two more threats should give the Swarm at close victory in the end.

Prediction: Minnesota Swarm 12 Buffalo Bandits 11

Team Stats Minnesota   Buffalo
  Stat NLL Rank   Stat NLL Rank
Goals Per Game 15.3 2nd   10.5 8th
Goals Against Per Game 14.3 7th   11.5 4th
Loose Balls Per Game 68.3 2nd   67.5 3rd
Power Play 23.1% 8th   21.1% 9th
Penalty Kill 64.3% 3rd   59.4% 5th
Penalty Minutes Per Game 12.7 8th   28.0 1st

Faceoffs:

Minnesota FOW FOT   Buffalo FOW FOT
Jordan MacIntosh 42 86   Jay Thorimbert 68 104
Corbyn Tao 4 9   Nick Weiss 0 1
Andrew Suitor 2 4        
Ethan O'Connor 1 3        

Minnesota Swarm

Runners
# Pos L/R Name Birthday Ht Wt Hometown College G A LB
2 F R Miles Thompson 12/08/90 5-11 185 Onondaga, NY Albany 8 6 9
8 D L Greg Downing 03/24/85 6-1 193 Auburn, NY Fairfield 0 2 12
10 D R Alex Crepinsek 02/18/89 5-11 185 Oakville, ON RIT 2 1 15
11 T R Sam Bradman 05/26/90 6-0 165 Canton,NY Salisbury 0 1 5
15 D R Jordan Houtby 11/01/91 6-3 181 St. Catharines, ON Detroit 1 2 3
18 F L Logan Schuss 01/23/91 6-0 210 Ladner, BC Ohio State 1 5 11
20 T R Andrew Suitor - C 04/26/89 6-0 190 Orangeville, ON Adrian 3 4 16
24 T R Jordan MacIntosh - A 09/19/89 6-2 190 Oakville, ON RIT 4 7 35
32 F L Shayne Jackson 11/16/90 5-10 175 Bowmanville, ON Limestone 9 9 9
33 T L David Earl 08/02/87 6-1 185 Simsbury, CT Notre Dame 1 1 14
37 T R Ethan O'Connor 03/05/91 6-1 185 Milton, ON Hobart 1 1 9
45 T L Jason Noble 09/05/91 5-9 180 Orangeville, ON Cornell 0 1 7
46 D R Kiel Matisz 06/08/89 6-5 215 Stoney Creek, ON Robert Morris 0 7 16
66 F L Shane MacDonald 07/26/93 6-0 205 Elora, ON   0 2 1
73 F L Dean Hill 10/26/84 6-3 225 Scarborough, ON Brock 3 5 11
84 F R Corbyn Tao 04/09/88 5-10 185 Coquitlam, BC Robert Morris 4 2 8
85 D R Mitch Belisle 11/09/85 5-10 190 Brewster, NY Cornell 0 0 5
98 F R Callum Crawford - A 11/07/84 6-2 196 Ottawa, ON Dowling 8 13 15
Practice Roster
17 F R Marcus Holman 05/02/91 5-11 185 Baltimore, MD North Carolina
44 T L Nick Cotter 04/08/86 5-11 190 Whitby, ON Dowling 1 0 2
67 D R Patrick Miles 10/22/92 5-11 170 Brampton, ON New England Coll
88 F L Joe Haodais Maracle 08/30/94 5-11 195 Six Nations, ON  
Goaltending
# Pos L/R Name Birthday Ht Wt Hometown College W L GAA SV %
31 G L Zach Higgins 12/30/90 6-1 215 Courtice, ON Davenport 2 0 9.59 .800
50 G L Brodie MacDonald 09/11/89 6-7 245 Vernon, BC   0 1 18.19 .674
Staff
Owner/GM Head Coach Assistant Assistant Assistant
John Arlotta Joe Sullivan Aime Caines Bobby Keast Rory McDade

Depth Chart
Goaltenders Defense (Left) Defense (Right)
31 - Zach Higgins 8 - Greg Downing 10 - Alex Crepinsek
50 - Brodie MacDonald   46 - Kiel Matisz
    85 - Mitch Belisle
    15 - Jordan Houtby
    ---Practice Roster---
    67 - Patrick Miles
     
Transition (Left) Transition (Right) Forwards (Left) Forwards (Right)
33 - David Earl 24 - Jordan MacIntosh - A 32 - Shayne Jackson 98 - Callum Crawford - A
45 - Jason Noble 20 - Andrew Suitor - C 73 - Dean Hill 2 - Miles Thompson
---Practice Roster--- 37 - Ethan O'Connor 18 - Logan Schuss 84 - Corbyn Tao
44 - Nick Cotter 11 - Sam Bradman 66 - Shane MacDonald ---Practice Roster---
    ---Practice Roster--- 17 - Marcus Holman
    88 - Joe Haodais Maracle  

Buffalo Bandits

Runner
# Pos L/R Name Birthday Ht Wt Hometown College G A LB
2 F L Jerome Thompson 06/04/88 6-0 210 Akwesasne, ON Onondaga 1 3 4
3 D L Billy Dee Smith - A 06/30/82 6-3 195 St. Catharines, ON   1 0 6
5 F R Joe Resetarits 08/22/89 6-0 185 Hamburg, NY Albany 4 6 15
7 D L Derek Suddons 06/10/78 6-2 210 Oshawa, ON Hartford 0 1 7
8 T R Kevin Brownell 08/16/88 6-1 175 Burlington, ON Robert Morris 0 4 25
9 F R Mark Steenhuis 12/03/80 5-11 195 St. Catharines, ON   6 11 17
13 T R Dave Brock 08/13/86 6-3 215 Burlington, ON Albany 0 0 13
15 T L Matthew Bennett 01/25/93 6-0 185 Brampton, ON  
17 F L Ryan Benesch 01/30/85 5-9 180 Kitchener, ON   14 8 20
19 F L Chad Culp 02/05/82 5-9 175 Fergus, ON   2 5 8
20 T R Nick Weiss 08/16/92 6-2 195 Port Hope, ON   0 0 19
21 F L Tyler Ferreira 06/25/93 6-1 155 Brampton, ON Dowling
23 D R Steve Priolo - A 01/15/89 6-5 236 St. Catharines, ON Brock 0 2 22
55 T R Mitch Wilde 11/21/91 6-3 208 Brooklin, ON Robert Morris 1 1 12
66 T R Alex Kedoh Hill 08/08/90 6-0 145 Six Nations, ON   1 2 19
71 F L Brandon Goodwin 04/01/91 6-1 190 New Westminster, BC Adelphi 1 0 5
75 T R Jay Thorimbert 07/06/86 6-0 205 Whitby, ON Guelph 1 1 54
92 F R Dhane Smith 09/23/92 6-3 195 Kitchener, ON Conestoga 9 10 13
Practice Roster
91 F R Corey Fowler 04/18/89 5-10 165 Niagara, ON Carleton
93 F L Jordan Dance 02/24/93 5-8 145 Georgetown, ON  
Goaltending
# Pos L/R Name Birthday Ht Wt Hometown College W L GAA SV %
44 G L Anthony Cosmo 10/06/77 6-2 210 Mississauga, ON Brock 2 2 11.25 .773
65 G R Davide Diruscio 05/05/92 6-5 300 Oakville, ON  
Staff
General Manager Head Coach Assistant Assistant
Steve Dietrich Troy Cordingley Rob Buchan Rich Kilgour
Assistant Assistant Assistant Assistant
Rusty Kruger Dave Pym Dan Teat Steve Toll
Depth Chart
Goaltenders Defense (Left) Defense (Right)
44-Anthony Cosmo 7-Derek Suddons 23-Steve Priolo
65-Davide Diruscio 3-Billy Dee Smith  
 
Transition (Left) Transition (Right) Forwards (Left) Forwards (Right)
15-Matthew Bennett 75-Jay Thorimbert 17-Ryan Benesch 92-Dhane Smith
  55-Mitch Wilde 19-Chad Culp 9-Mark Steenhuis
  13-David Brock 71-Brandon Goodwin 5-Joe Resetarits
  20-Nick Weiss 2-Jerome Thompson ---Practice Roster---
  66-Alex Kedoh Hill 21-Tyler Ferreira 91-Corey Fowler
  8-Kevin Brownell ---Practice Roster---  
    93-Jordan Dance  

Next Games After This Match Up

  • Minnesota vs Rochester - Friday, February 6th, 2015 7:30 pm Central
  • Buffalo at Rochester - Saturday, January 31st, 2015 6:30 pm Central