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Minnesota Swarm (2-0) 10
San Jose Stealth (0-2) 7
Swarm Defense Rolls Another Seven in Victory
Saturday, January 10, 2009
St. Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 13,094
The Minnesota Swarm (2-0) are on pace to give up 112 goals this year. That would definitely be a NLL record in a sixteen game
season. It's unlikely that the team will only give up that many goals this year but after last night's 10-7 home opener victory
over the San Jose Stealth (0-2) in the first home game of the Arlotta Era of Swarm Lacrosse, they sure look like a team that
could do it. Including last week's victory over Portland, the Swarm have given up only seven goals in each game this year. They
have done it with two different goaltenders (Kevin Croswell and Nick Patterson) starting and finishing each of the two games.
They have done it with team captain Ryan Cousins missing the first game along with Jon Sullivan and Travis Hill. They have done
it with a rookie that was slated to replace last year's leading scorer, Andy Secore, but is now evolving into a fantastic two-way
threat in Andrew Watt. They have done it by limiting big time NLL scorers like Ryan Powell and Derek Malawsky of Portland and
Colin Doyle and Jeff Zywicki of San Jose. Even with the challenges of the rest of season yet to come, the Swarm defense has so
far shown the capability to fight through them.
The Swarm debuted new blue home jerseys
and their start made the Stealth feel more blue than the Swarm's new apparel. After the Stealth's Frank Resetarits was called
for an illegal stick, the Swarm went on the power play where Craig Point's long range rocket got past Stealth goaltender Aaron
Bold for the 1-0 lead. Sean Pollock increased the lead to 2-0 only 22 seconds after the Point goal as he found an alley to the
net to score. A high sticking major by the Stealth's Mike Kirk would insure a Swarm power play after Sullivan served the minor
concurrent penalty. Watt put the Swarm up 3-0 but the Stealth challenged the goal and it was overturned as the referee deemed
that Watt was in the crease. The Swarm would eventually get that 3-0 lead when Ryan Ward scored on the above mentioned power
play. That was the way the first quarter finished as the Swarm limited the Stealth to only six shots and zero goals. The first
quarter shut out was the fourth time in history that the Swarm have accomplished that feat.
Ward started the second quarter as he finished the first by scoring more goals. The first one was set up on an instinctive
righthanded and underhanded alley-oop pass on the pick and roll from Craig Point. The second goal of the quarter and Ward's third
of the night saw Ward dive across the crease. Orginally, that goal was waived off by the officials due to a crease violation.
Swarm Head Coach Duane Jacobs challenged the call and it was overturned, so Ward got his hat trick
and the Swarm were up 5-0. Dan Marohl made it 6-0 as he set up behind the goal. He waited and waited and when Bold moved the
way he wanted, Marohl pulled off the Air Gait to the left of Bold. That goal was enough for Stealth Head Coach Jeff Dowling, who
made the goaltender change from Bold to Matt Roik. The Stealth finally got one by Patterson as Colin Doyle scored off the pick
and roll to cut the Swarm lead to 6-1. Chad Culp then showed his grit by forcing a turnover next to the penalty box as the
Stealth were bringing the ball across the center line. Fighting off two Stealth, Culp won the scoop and found Pollock going to
the net for the goal. Watt finally got his first NLL goal as Darren Halls found him on the penalty kill that led to the
breakaway goal. Watt's goal was the first shorthanded marker for the Swarm this year. The Stealth got two goals within 35
seconds of Watt's goal to get the Stealth within five at 8-3. The Swarm finished the first half with their second shorthanded
goal of the game as Kevin Ross won an one on one battle to the net for the 9-3 halftime lead.
The third quarter was once again kryptonite for the Swarm. The Stealth scored four in a row
including two power play goals to narrow the Swarm lead to 9-7. It just seemed as if nothing would go right for the Swarm all of
sudden especially with the Stealth's seventh goal of the night as the ball rebounded off the glass behind the net and Travis
Gillespie caught it in stride and put it right by Patterson. Somehow the Swarm had to stem the tide and it looks like Nick Inch
was the man to do it. When Halls was hit from behind and ganged up on, Inch came in to help out. Eventually, he dropped the
gloves and his challenged was met the Stealth's Kyle Hartzell. Unfortunately for fans looking for a fight, crew chief Chet
Couture was in the perfect position at that time to warn the combatants if they continued that both of them would get game
misconducts due to the potential fight occuring after play had stopped. The fight did not come off, but it seemed to symbolize
that the Swarm were through with this game's third quarter inadequacy and had enough of the mini-Stealth resurgency which now had
ended. Marohl continued his goal highlight reel for the night with a beauty of a behind the back goal crossing the goaltender from
right to left of him. That goal finished the third quarter scoring with the Swarm up three 10-7.
The fourth quarter was all about Patterson saying no mas to the Stealth as he made 14 saves on 14 shots and the Swarm defense
scooping up any Stealth mistake. The offense tended to be maybe a bit too patient and only got five shots on net. This last
quarter presented a rarity in the NLL, a completely scoreless quarter as neither team scored in the fourth. This is the first
time in Swarm history that this occurred and with that occurence the game ended in yet another Swarm victory by the score of 10-7.
The Swarm only scored one goal in the second half, which set a infamous Swarm record for the
fewest goals in any one half for the team.
Ward led the Swarm with three goals and two assists. He is now one goal short of 100 regular season
goals as a member of the Swarm. Ross continued his five point per game average for the season with a goal and four assists.
Marohl and Pollock each scored two goals in the game. Those two and Ward have scored at least two goals in each of the first two
games of this season. Patterson made a spectacular 2009 debut with 36 saves on 43 shots. The Swarm have now won their last two
home openers after losing their first three in their history.
With the victory, the Swarm lead the West Division along with the Calgary Roughnecks (2-0). They have the week off before they
host their arch-nemesis, the defending NLL Champion Buffalo Bandits (2-0), on January 24. The Swarm played a pretty complete game
against the Stealth, if you disregard the dreaded third quarter. They will have to play 60 minutes and not only 45 minutes to
beat the Bandits. Even with that in mind, the Swarm have the look of a team that is ready for that challenge especially on
defense.
Game Statistics
Pointstreak Box Score |
Minnesota Swarm Game Center
| Team Stats |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
F |
|
Sv/S |
PIM |
PP |
SHG |
S |
SOG |
LB |
FO |
| Minnesota |
3 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
|
36/43 |
14 |
3/7 |
2 |
63 |
43 |
64 |
8/21 |
| San Jose |
0 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
7 |
|
29/39 |
30 |
3/4 |
0 |
55 |
39 |
75 |
13/21 |
| # |
Minnesota |
G |
A |
Pts |
PIM |
PPG |
SHG |
S |
SOG |
LB |
FO |
| 44 |
Ryan Ward |
3 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
11 |
7 |
2 |
0/0 |
| 71 |
Kevin Ross |
1 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
7 |
3 |
0/0 |
| 7 |
Dan Marohl |
2 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
0/0 |
| 17 |
Sean Pollock |
2 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
7 |
5 |
0/0 |
| 9 |
Craig Point |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
0/0 |
| 73 |
Dean Hill |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
5 |
4 |
0/0 |
| 22 |
Andrew Watt |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
0/0 |
| 19 |
Chad Culp |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
9 |
0/0 |
| 23 |
Jon Sullivan |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0/0 |
| 28 |
Darren Halls |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
7/14 |
| 34 |
Nick Inch |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0/0 |
| 16 |
Noah Talbot |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0/0 |
| 26 |
Ryan Sharp |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
0/0 |
| 27 |
Colin Achenbach |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0/0 |
| 47 |
Travis Hill |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
1/7 |
| 50 |
Ryan Cousins |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
0/0 |
| 93 |
NickPatterson |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0/0 |
| 31 |
Kevin Croswell |
Backup Goaltender - DNP |
| 4 |
Joe Cinosky |
Did Not Dress |
| 12 |
Eric Pacey |
Did Not Dress |
| 21 |
Kevin Fines |
Did Not Dress |
| 33 |
Kevin Buchanan |
Did Not Dress |
| 77 |
Riley Kemp |
Did Not Dress |
| |
| # |
Minnesota |
MIN |
GA |
Saves |
Shots |
Dec |
|
| 93 |
NickPatterson |
60:00 |
7 |
36 |
43 |
W 1-0 |
|
| 31 |
Kevin Croswell |
0:00 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
| |
| # |
San Jose |
G |
A |
Pts |
PIM |
PPG |
SHG |
S |
SOG |
LB |
FO |
| 7 |
Colin Doyle |
2 |
3 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
14 |
11 |
5 |
0/0 |
| 10 |
Rhys Duch |
2 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
8 |
6 |
5 |
0/0 |
| 9 |
Jeff Zywicki |
1 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
13 |
7 |
6 |
0/0 |
| 29 |
Cam Sedgwick |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
3 |
4 |
0/0 |
| 5 |
Frank Resetarits |
0 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
0/0 |
| 44 |
Travis Gillespie |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
0/0 |
| 6 |
Curtis Hodgson |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0/0 |
| 31 |
Will Dalton |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
13 |
13/21 |
| 81 |
Paul Rabil |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
0/0 |
| 2 |
Brett Manney |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
0/0 |
| 3 |
Ryan Marshall |
0 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0/0 |
| 8 |
Tom Johnson |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
0/0 |
| 11 |
Kyle Sorensen |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
0/0 |
| 18 |
Kyle Hartzell |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0/0 |
| 23 |
Mike Grimes |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
0/0 |
| 26 |
Mike Kirk |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
0/0 |
| 37 |
Matt Roik |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0/0 |
| 77 |
Aaron Bold |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0/0 |
| 00 |
Tyler Richards |
Did Not Dress |
| 14 |
Michael Doneger |
Did Not Dress |
| 22 |
Alex Turner |
Did Not Dress |
| 25 |
Eric Martin |
Did Not Dress |
| 34 |
Luke Hinton |
Did Not Dress |
| |
| # |
San Jose |
MIN |
GA |
Saves |
Shots |
Dec |
|
| 77 |
Aaron Bold |
20:10 |
6 |
17 |
23 |
|
|
| 37 |
Matt Roik |
39:50 |
4 |
12 |
16 |
L 0-2 |
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Next Games After This Match Up
- Minnesota (2-0) vs Buffalo (2-0) - Saturday, January 24 7:00 pm CST
- San Jose (0-2) vs Rochester (0-1) - Sunday, January 18 7:30 pm CST
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