Minnesota Swarm (6-0) 14 Portland LumberJax (1-5) 13 OT
Captain Clutch Strikes Again!!!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
St. Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 11,244
Ryan Cousins (6g 2a)may be earning a new nickname. That would be Captain Clutch. Or maybe not.
I am sure there are better out there for the Minnesota Swarm captain. But this year, Cousins has definitely been clutch and Swarm
fans got to see another example yesterday when Cousins got his second overtime goal of the year to advance the Swarm to 6-0 with
a 14-13 victory over the Portland LumberJax.
It was quite a journey for the Swarm to achieve victory. Portland came strong and gave no quarter.
Craig Point (13g 20a) scored right off the face off, fourteen seconds into the game and
Andy Secore (14g 21a) put the Swarm up 2-0 three minutes later with a bounce shot past Jax goaltender Dallas Eliuk. Then Swarm
fans were caught off guard, when they saw Nick Patterson (6-0 11.32 GAA .779 Save %) give up a goal in the first half. The goal by
Pat Jones was the first Patterson has given up in the first half since Colin Doyle scored for San Jose on February 2nd.
Ryan Ward (16g 16a) scored on a two on one breakaway off the bench with Mike Hominuck (4g 15a)
to extend the lead to 3-1. The LumberJax did not roll over and that was the theme all night as by the end of the quarter, as Peter Morgan scored twice
to tie it at three going into the second quarter.
Portland continued to roll in the second with Ryan Powell scoring on a breakaway which was soon followed by a power play goal
from Derek Malawsky. This quarter saw many near fights which resulted in a lot of man up situations for both teams, mainly the
LumberJax. The Swarm were not able to really get into a rythym the whole quarter except for a quick stick shot from
Chad Culp (10g 12a) with just over three minutes left. All together, that left the Swarm behind 5-4 at the half and the undefeated
season in jeopardy.
Like the first half, Minnesota tied it on their first possession as Culp scored from right of the goaltender instead of his usual
left. Another goal from P. Morgan, his third, put the Jax back up by one but Rory McDade (1g 0a)
scored his first goal of the season and his first since the 2006 playoff game in Buffalo after he deflected a Hominuck shot past
Eliuk. Portland one upped the Swarm again when former Swarm Ray Guze scored on a breakaway but Point tied it up again at seven.
P. Morgan got his fourth and final goal on a controversial call by the referee who judged that the ball crossed the goal line
while covered up by Patterson. Point was bang on again in the quarter notching his second career hat trick to tie it at eight.
The Swarm finally got the lead back late in the third for the first time since the first quarter on a low laser by Secore.
The final quarter saw the momentum shift back and forth once again. This time Portland struck first off a face off win by Jones
to start the final stanza as he found Richard Morgan to tie it at nine. Ward countered with a rocket from the restraining line to
give the lead back to the Swarm. Secore got his second hat trick of the season as he was left all alone for a shot that put the
Swarm up two for the first time since the first. Noah Talbot (0g 3a) got called for a high sticking major
near the Jax bench which put the Swarm down a man for five big minutes in the fourth. Portland took advantage to tie the game with
two goals with Talbot in the box and after the penalty was up, Brad MacDonald gave the lead back to the Jax with a nice goal while
diving left to right through the crease. Point tied it up at twelve before Cory Conway scored off the back of Patterson's stick to
give the lead back to the Jax at 13-12. Secore then tied the game again after Hominuck spun and found Secore with an open shot.
That left 4:40 in the game and on the Swarm's next trip down the floor, Eliuk made a fine save but tweaked his left hamstring.
That brought in Matt King for the rest of the game for the Jax and he was equal to the challenge as both teams tried again and again
to win it in regulation but failed.
The Swarm now entered overtime for the third time this season. They had only played three overtimes in their first three years,
but this year they are plentiful. The game winner for the Swarm was all about defensive pressure then attacking the down the floor.
Kyle Ross (2g 5a) forced a turnover on Powell and passed the ball of the boards to Talbot, who took it
and ran towards the middle of the floor. Once there, Talbot found Cousins top right and ready to shoot. Even though his aim was off,
Cousins still found the back of the net and it was time to celebrate as the Swarm were victorious once again.
Point led all scorers with four goals and five assists. Secore was right behind with four goals and four assists. Both had
career nights in points and each, along with Ryan Ward are in the top seven in scoring in the NLL. Patterson won his twentieth
game as a member of the Swarm as he saved 37 of 50 shots. Travis Hill set a Swarm season record with
57 penalty minutes breaking the record of 56 set by Michael Kilby in 2006. It only took T. Hill five games to do and you would
think he would be leading the league in penalty minutes but he is only second to Toronto's Cam Woods, who has 65. Peter Morgan led
the Jax with four goals and an assist and Ryan Powell had a goal and five assists.
Minnesota will now embark on a three game road trip to the Eastern United States. The first stop will be in Buffalo, New York
to face the team who has finished off the Swarm in each of the last two seasons, the Buffalo Bandits (3-3). Game time is on Saturday,
February 16th at 6:35 pm CST at HSBC Arena. The Swarm return home on Friday, March 14 at 7:00 pm CST to face the Chicago Shamrox.
The LumberJax resume their battle for the last playoff spot in the West as they face the Edmonton Rush (0-4) in Portland on
Sunday, February 17th at 5:00 pm CST.
Game Statistics
Box Score
Minnesota Swarm Game Center
| # | Minnesota |
G |
A | Pts |
PIM |
PPG | SHG |
S |
LB | FO |
|
# | Portland |
G |
A | Pts |
PIM |
PPG | SHG |
S |
LB | FO |
| 9 | Craig
Point | 4 |
5 |
9 | 0 |
1 |
0 | 10♦ |
4 |
0-0 |
|
22 | Ryan Powell |
1 |
5 | 6 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
9 |
3 | 0-0 |
| 21 | Andy
Secore | 4 |
4 |
8 | 0 |
3 |
0 | 14 |
6 |
0-0 |
` |
44 | Peter Morgan |
4 |
1 | 5 |
0 |
2 | 0 |
11 |
4 | 0-0 |
| 44 | Ryan Ward
| 2 |
3 |
5 | 0 |
1 |
0 | 16 |
1 |
0-0 |
|
33 | Richard
Morgan | 1 |
3 |
4 | 2 |
0 |
0 | 1 |
6 |
0-0 |
| 19 | Chad Culp |
2 |
2 | 4 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
8 |
7 | 0-0 |
|
17 | Brodie Merrill |
0 |
4 | 4 |
4 |
0 | 0 |
3 |
11 | 0-0 |
| 90 | Mike Hominuck |
0 |
4 | 4 |
2 |
0 | 0 |
5 |
5 | 0-0 |
|
91 | Cory Conway |
2 |
0 | 2 |
0 |
1 | 0 |
3 |
2 | 0-0 |
| 17 | Sean
Pollock | 0 |
2 |
2 | 2 |
0 |
0 | 9 |
2 |
0-0 |
|
6 | Dan Dawson |
1 |
1 | 2 |
0 |
1 | 0 |
11 |
6 | 0-0 |
| 39 | Mark
Miyashita | 0 |
2 |
2 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
13 |
12-20 |
|
12 | Pat Jones |
1 |
1 | 2 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
1 |
19 | 16-31 |
| 8 | Rory
McDade | 1 |
0 |
1 | 2 |
0 |
0 | 2 |
1 |
0-0 |
|
18 | Derek
Malawsky | 1 |
1 |
2 | 0 |
1 |
0 | 10 |
2 |
0-0 |
| 50 | Ryan
Cousins | 1 |
0 |
1 | 4 |
0 |
0 | 5 |
6 |
0-0 |
|
15 | Spencer Martin |
0 |
2 | 2 |
4 |
0 | 0 |
4 |
2 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Chris
Courtney | 0 |
1 |
1 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
1 |
0-0 |
|
2 | Ray Guze |
1 |
0 | 1 |
6 |
0 | 0 |
1 |
1 | 0-0 |
| 16 | Noah
Talbot | 0 |
1 |
1 | 5 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
4 |
0-0 |
|
28 | Brad
MacDonald | 1 |
0 |
1 | 6 |
0 |
0 | 2 |
0 |
0-0 |
| 20 | Kyle
Ross | 0 |
1 |
1 | 2 |
0 |
0 | 3 |
19 |
0-0 |
|
7 | Tyler Codron |
0 |
1 | 1 |
2 |
0 | 0 |
2 |
3 | 0-0 |
| 23 | Jon Sullivan |
0 |
1 | 1 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
2 | 0-0 |
|
8 | Scott Stewart |
0 |
1 | 1 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
2 |
6 | 0-0 |
| 93 | Nick
Patterson | 0 |
1 |
1 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0-0 |
|
35 | Dallas Eliuk |
0 |
1 | 1 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0-0 |
| 12 | Eric
Pacey | 0 |
0 |
0 | 2 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
5 |
0-0 |
|
55 | Michael Kilby |
0 |
1 | 1 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
1 | 0-0 |
| 26 | Ryan
Sharp | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 1 |
7 |
0-0 |
|
5 | Ian Crashley |
0 |
0 | 0 |
2 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
6 | 0-0 |
| 31 | Kevin
Croswell | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0-0 |
|
10 | Scott Stapleford |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
3 |
1 | 0-0 |
| 47 | Travis
Hill | 0 |
0 |
0 | 9 |
0 |
0 | 2 |
7 |
3-11 |
|
30 | Matt King |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0-0 |
| # | Minnesota | MIN |
GA | Saves | Shots |
|
# | Portland | MIN |
GA | Saves | Shots |
| 93 | Nick Patterson | 60:42 |
13 | 37 | 50 |
|
35 | Dallas Eliuk | 55:48 |
13 | 40 | 53 |
| 31 | Kevin Croswell | 0:00 |
0 | 0 | 0 |
|
30 | Matt King | 4:56 |
1 | 6 | 7 |
| Scoring by Quarter | 1 | 2 |
3 | 4 | OT | F |
| Minnesota | 3 | 1 |
5 | 4 | 1 | 14 |
| Portland | 3 | 2 |
3 | 5 | 0 |
13 |
| Team Stats | Power Play | SHG |
PIM | LB | Saves/Shots |
SOG | SOFF |
Face Offs |
| Minnesota | 5/7 | 0 |
30 | 80 | 37/50 |
60 | 15 |
15/31 |
| Portland | 5/8 | 0 |
28 | 73 | 46/60 |
50 | 13 |
16/31 |
| Scratches | | |
| | |
| Minnesota | Justin Norbraten | Colin Achenbach |
Darren Halls | Nick Inch | Dean Hill |
| Portland | Peter Jacobs | Matt Holman |
Adam Bysouth | Derek Lowe | Joel Weber |
| 
