Minnesota Swarm (3-8 H 1-3 A 2-5)

New England Black Wolves (3-6 H 2-3 A 1-3)

Sunday, March 29, 2015 - 12:00 pm CST
Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, Connecticut

Last Update: March 29, 2015 5:15 am Central

Live Statistics

TV/Internet/Radio Coverage:

• Universal Sports TV on April 2nd at 1:00 pm Central

More Coverage of this game at:

Series History:

This will be the third of four games between the two teams this season, the second in New England. Both teams have won a game each on the road. The Swarm beat the Black Wolves 19-13 in their most impressive game of the year in New England on January 24th as Shayne Jackson led the Swarm with four goals and three assists.

The second game of the season was on March 14th at Ho-Chunk Nation Field at The Hive and Kevin Crowley's only goal of the night with 1:09 left in the game gave the Black Wolves a 10-9 come from behind win. The win for the Black Wolves snapped their five game losing streak and was the franchise's first ever win on the road. Dean Hill led the Swarm with three goals.

This is the first of two straight games against the two teams. They will play each other again on April 3rd at Ho-Chunk Nation Field at The Hive in the fourth and final game of the season series.

Last Weekend:

The Minnesota Swarm traveled to Buffalo last Saturday night and lost 12-8 to the Bandits. The Swarm fell behind 5-0 within six minutes of the start and struggled to try to get back the rest of the way. Callum Crawford, Miles Thompson and Shayne Jackson each had two goals and two assists. The Bandits are 2-0 with a game remaining in this year's season series and now have clinched the tiebreaker between the teams.

The New England Black Wolves traveled west to Calgary to take on the Roughnecks but were crushed 20-9. Pat Saunders led the Black Wolves with three goals and an assist but the Black Wolves gave up a league season-high five shorthanded goals in the game.

Notes:

• If the Swarm lose on Sunday, it will be the 100th regular season loss in team history.
• The Swarm have lost six straight which is the third worst streak in team history. They have scored nine or less goals in six of their last seven games.
• The Swarm defense has given up just over 11 goals per game in three games this March which should be enough to get at least two victories in that stretch if the offense fires likes it supposed to.
• Both Shayne Jackson (4g 8a) and Miles Thompson (5g 7a) lead the Swarm with 12 points in the month of March.
• The Swarm are 2 for 11 on the power play in the month of March. Dean Hill has both of the power play goals and both of them were scored against New England on March 14th. The Swarm have went 0 for 7 on the power play in the last two games.
• Logan Schuss was activated to the active roster and will be available to play this weekend. During the month of March, Schuss has been available for all Sunday games while missing the Saturday games due to work. With no Sunday games after this weekend, one hopes that the March trend does not continue because then this may be the last we see of Schuss this season. If the Swarm think that Schuss' work will be an issue for the long term, one wonders if the team makes a drastic and probably panicked trade by this upcoming Tuesday. Schuss' next goal will be his 50th regular season goal for the Swarm.
• David Earl hopes to make it through this New England game in Connecticut injury free. The last game in Connecticut is when he injured his shoulder which saw him miss the next seven.
• Jordan MacIntosh (86g) needs one goal to pass Chad Culp for fifth all time in Swarm history.
• The trading deadline is on March 31st and the free agent deadline is on April 2nd. This may be the last chance for some players to either keep a job with the team or maybe hope another team takes an interest in them in order to trade for them. As all Swarm fans should have learned after the Ryan Benesch trade, is that no Swarm player is untouchable but if Andrew Suitor or Jordan MacIntosh get traded, things may have to be burned.
• Looking at the playoff picture, the Swarm have seven games left. They need to win their five remaining division games (NE-2, ROC-2 & BUF) and at least one of the West games (EDM or CAL) to get into position. That will only get them to 9-9 and they will still need an extreme amount of help to make it still. The odds are astronomical against but not completely impossible.
• Former Swarm with Black Wolves: Evan Kirk and Kevin Buchanan
• The Black Wolves have lost six of their last seven games with their only victory being the 10-9 win over the Swarm on March 14th.
• The Black Wolves acquired Drew Petkoff from the Bandits this week. He may be activated for Sunday's game to help out their defense.
• Joel White is second in the league for non-face off men scooped loose balls with 106.

Prediction: Minnesota Swarm 12 New England Black Wolves 10

High Noon on Sunday in Uncasville, Connecticut, your and mine favorite local professional indoor lacrosse team, the Minnesota Swarm, will meet the host, New England Black Wolves, in a showdown that would make Gary Cooper cringe. Both teams will be meeting for the third time this year, the second time this month and for the first of two between the teams this week. The visiting team has won the first two games in the season series and since they both have hosted once each that means the season series is tied at one. This time, the Swarm are the visitors and since they score nearly four more goals per game on the road (12.14) than at home (8.25), I see the Swarm ending their six game losing streak and keeping their razor slim East Division playoff chances alive.

Projected Starting Goaltenders vs Opponent:

Faceoffs:

Personnel:

Minnesota Swarm

Runners

Goaltending

Staff

Depth Chart

New England Black Wolves

Runners

Goaltending

Staff

Depth Chart

Next Games After This Match Up

• Minnesota vs New England - Friday, April 3rd, 2015 7:30 pm Central
• New England at Minnesota - Friday, April 3rd, 2015 7:30 pm Central