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

Washington Stealth (1-2 H 0-2 A 1-0)

Benesch and the Swarm Sock it to the Stealth

Friday, January 14, 2011
Everett, Washington
Attendance: 3,362

The Minnesota Swarm came off a tough home opener only to visit the defending NLL Champions, the Washington Stealth. A tough challenge for sure but one that was met quite convincingly. Led by Ryan Benesch's Swarm single game record seven goals, the Swarm socked the Stealth by a 16-8 score last Friday night. Benesch's seven goals notched the first Swarm sock trick (six goals) in team history. Nick Paatterson also had a stellar night in goal saving 50 of 58 shots on goal.

The Stealth scored first but the Swarm scored two straight power play goals by Aaron Wilson, his first of the year, and Benesch. Zack Greer then got one to put the Swarm up 3-1. The Stealth came back to tie but Greer finished the first quarter with his second of night to end the quarter with the Swarm up 4-3.

It was all Swarm in the second quarter. Benesch scored four of his goals in the quarter including a shorthanded goal, the first Swarm goal scored a man down this season. Callum Crawford also socred and Richard Morgan, in his first game of the year, scooped up a loose ball at midfield, ran over Tyler Codron on the way to the net to score what would prove to be the game winner. By the end of the first half, the Swarm were up 10-4.

Paul Rabil cut the Swarm lead to five to start the third but yet again, the Swarm quickly established dominance. Benesch scored twice more with a Mat Giles goal sandwiched in between. Benesch's second goal was on a penalty shot. The Swarm were already on a 5 on 3 power play but the Stealth incurred two penalties at the 11:22 mark which would leave them 5 on 1. Since at least three runners must be on the floor, the Swarm were rewarded two penalty shots to clear out the first two Stealth penalties. Benesch went first and got his shot past Stealth netminder Matt Roik, but Roik got the best of Greer's penalty shot.

The Swarm entered the fourth quarter up 13-5 and played even with the Stealth in the final stanza. Crawford, Wilson and Giles socred to in the quarter to offset the Stealth's three goals. The Swarm even killed of a five minute high sticking penalty on Matt Kelly, who made his Swarm and NLL debut on Friday night.

The Swarm repeatedly cut to the net on the Stealth defense and the transition helped create some mismastches that led to eventual goals. Even with the Stealth's Jeff Zywicki out due to injury, the Swarm still did a great job limiting Rhys Duch and Lewis Ratcliff. Benesch also had four assists to go along with his seven goals. Crawford had two goals and tjhree assists. Giles, Wilson and Greer each had two goals and Morgan got the other goal on the night for the Swarm.

The Swarm return to The Hive on Saturday, January 22 for a game against the Edmonton Rush (0-2). The Swarm are looking to break a five game losing streak at home. which includes four overtime lossses. If they play like they did in Washington nest Saturday, the Swarm should start a home winning streak.

Game Links

Next Games After This Match Up

• Minnesota vs Edmonton - Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 7:30 pm Central
• Washington at Calgary - Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 8:30 pm Central