Minnesota Swarm (3-0) 18
Rochester Knighthawks (1-3) 17 OT
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Rochester, New York
Attendance: 9,686
The Minnesota Swarm were feeling pretty glad about themselves when they were up they were up 13-5 after
Sean Pollock scored 1:05 into the third quarter. Eight goal lead on the road against the defending NLL champion Rochester
Knighthawks will make a team very glad. The gladness turned to sadness as the Knighthawks came back to tie at 16 and take the
lead at 17-16 with 6:45 left in the game. The Swarm were feeling downright sad but Pollock tied it to send it to overtime and 6:30
into overtime, Polly got a pass from Andy Secore as he streaked in on Knighthawk goaltender Phil
Wetherup to make the Minnesota Swarm glad once again as they beat the Rochester Knighthawks 18-17 in Rochester to remain undefeated
at 3-0.
The Swarm jumped out to a 3-0 lead to start the game with goals from Craig Point, Dean Hill, and Ryan Sharp. Ryan Ward put the Swarm up
4-1 with 9:03 to go in the first. The Knighthawks countered with two goals to get within one at 4-3. The Swarm then finished the
the quarter off with three in a row from Ryan Cousins, Chad Culp and
Secore, who scored on a feed from Pollock who was behind the net with one second left. That gave the Swarm seven goals in the
quarter scored by seven players.
The Swarm continued to sizzle in the second. After Scott Evans cut the lead to 7-4, Point scored two straight power play goals,
the last as he faked his defender, then slid by him to put the biscuit in the basket. D. Hill got the Swarm's third straight power
play goal to make it 10-4 with 9:03 left in the second quarter. After John Grant finally got his first goal, Sharp scored on his
second breakaway and Secore finished the scoring for the half to make it 12-5. Secore's goal on a pick and roll with D. Hill also
finished Knighthawk starting goaltender Pat O'Toole's night as he was pulled for Wetherup.
Like I said earlier, the Swarm were quite glad with the first half and after Pollock's goal to get it to 13-5 early in the third,
it looked like the gladness would continue. The problem was is Rochester is not a team to just roll over like that. The league's
top scoring team last year, Rochester was due and they got paid. By the end of quarter, Scott Evans tallied four goals to lead a
monumental comeback. The older Knighthawks looked like the team with the young legs as the whittle the Swarm lead down. They got
within one before Mike Hominuck got behind the defense to receive a pass and score on Wetherup to
get the Swarm a two goal lead. Grant got the ninth goal of the quarter for the Knighthawks with a wicked shot from the restraining
line past Nick Patterson to end the quarter with the Swarm up 15-14.
The Swarm captain, Cousins, grabbed a rebound off a Pollock shot to put the Swarm back up two at 16-14. The Knighthawks then
rallied for three including two from defensemen Stephen Hoar and Steve Toll. The Toll goal gave the Knighthawks their first lead
at 17-16. The game tying goal for the Swarm came on a pick and roll which had Ward finding Pollock with 5:20 to go in the game.
Rochester applied constant pressure for the remainder of regulation, especially after Jon Sullivan
got called for interference with forty seconds left. The Swarm were able to stave off the Knighthawks to send it to overtime as
Hominuck ragged the ball for the remaining eighteen seconds.
As the Swarm entered overtime, the Knighthawks were still on the power play with 1:20 left. The Swarm defense finally reasserted
itself as they constantly thwarted the Knighthawks in overtime. First the killed the penalty, then Patterson was spectacular as
he made eleven saves in extra session. Rochester held possession throughout most of overtime but the Swarm needed just a small
glimmer of light and it arrived after the Swarm called a timeout with 8:56 left in overtime. Out of the timeout, the Swarm got the
ball downfield. Secore had the ball with his back to the Knighthawk net. He turned to face our net and spotted a streaking
Pollock coming towards the him and the net. Secore fed Pollock who quickly shot the ball past Wetherup to win. The Swarm were
finally glad again as they overcame much distress, some self-induced for sure, kept optimistic and turned their frown upside down.
Pollock led the Swarm with three goals and six assists. The nine point night was Pollock's second as a member of the Swarm and
the game winner his third in his Swarm career. Secore continues his high level of play with two goals and four assists. He now
is the Swarm leading point man with seventeen. Point is still making a great case for NLL Rookie of the Year with his first
career hat trick. Kyle Ross snatched a career high ten loose balls and leads the Swarm in that category
with 21 this year. Sharp has reestablished himself as one of the league's best transition players with another two goals tonight.
The third quarter may best be forgotten but Patterson overall played well especially late to stem the rising Knighthawk tide as
their crowd tried to push them to victory.
Scott Evans led the Knighthawks with six goals and two assists. Grant had an average night for himself with three goals and
five assists. They took 29 of 56 shots on Patterson alone.
The Swarm's 3-0 record marks their best start in their four year history. They are now tied for first in the East with
Philadelphia, who are also 3-0. It is their first undefeated January in their history. The Swarm are now 4-5 against Rochester
with three of those victories in January. The overtime victory was the second for the Swarm this season and both occured on
the road. In their history, the Swarm are 4-1 in overtime.
Minnesota will finish their two game road trip next Saturday, February 2nd against the San Jose Stealth (1-2) at HP Pavilion
in San Jose. Game time begins at 9:30 pm CST. The Swarm return home on Friday, February 8th against the New York Titans (1-2).
The Knighthawks, now on a three game losing streak, have next weekend off and resume play on Saturday, February 9th at home
against the Toronto Rock (3-2) beginning at 6:35 pm CST.
Game Statistics
Box Score
Swarm Game Center
| # | Minnesota |
G |
A | Pts |
PIM |
PPG | SHG |
S |
LB | FO |
|
# | Rochester |
G |
A | Pts |
PIM |
PPG | SHG |
S |
LB | FO |
| 17 | Sean
Pollock | 3 |
6 |
9 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 13 |
5 |
0-0 |
|
19 | Scott Evans |
6 |
2 | 8 |
2 |
2 | 2 |
21 |
6 | 0-0 |
| 21 | Andy
Secore | 2 |
4 |
6 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 7 |
4 |
0-0 |
` |
24 | John Grant |
3 |
5 | 8 |
4 |
0 | 2 |
22 |
5 | 0-0 |
| 44 | Ryan Ward |
1 |
4 |
5 | 4 |
0 |
0 | 14 |
6 |
0-0 |
|
20 | Bill Greer |
3 |
2 |
5 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 3 |
4 |
0-0 |
| 9 | Craig
Point |
3 |
1 | 4 |
0 |
2 | 0 |
11 |
6 | 0-0 |
|
51 | Shawn
Williams |
1 |
4 | 5 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
7 |
4 | 0-0 |
| 73 | Dean Hill |
2 |
2 | 4 |
0 |
1 | 0 |
7 |
3 | 0-0 |
|
15 | Shawn Evans |
1 |
3 | 4 |
2 |
0 | 0 |
12 |
8 | 0-0 |
| 90 | Mike
Hominuck | 1 |
2 |
3 | 0 |
1 |
0 | 5 |
4 |
0-0 |
|
23 | Stephen Hoar |
2 |
1 | 3 |
0 |
0 | 1 |
6 |
7 | 20-36 |
| 26 | Ryan
Sharp | 2 |
0 |
2 | 2 |
0 |
0 | 2 |
7 |
0-0 |
|
17 | Steve Toll |
1 |
2 | 3 |
2 |
0 | 0 |
4 |
11 | 0-0 |
| 50 | Ryan
Cousins | 3 |
0 |
3 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 5 |
10 |
0-0 |
|
5 | Sandy Chapman |
0 |
3 |
3 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
6 |
1-2 |
| 19 | Chad Culp |
1 |
1 |
2 | 2 |
0 |
0 | 10 |
6 |
0-0 |
|
25 | Scott Ditzell |
0 |
3 | 3 |
2 |
0 | 0 |
1 |
7 | 0-0 |
| 12 | Eric
Pacey | 0 |
1 |
1 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
4 |
0-0 |
|
2 | Chris Schiller |
0 |
1 | 1 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
2 |
4 | 0-0 |
| 16 | Noah
Talbot | 0 |
1 |
12 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
4 |
0-0 |
|
11 | Regy Thorpe |
0 |
1 |
1 | 7 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
2 |
0-1 |
| 20 | Kyle Ross |
0 |
1 |
1 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 1 |
10 |
0-0 |
|
21 | Matt Lyons |
0 |
1 | 1 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
1 |
5 | 0-0 |
| 23 | Jon
Sullivan |
0 |
1 | 1 |
2 |
0 | 0 |
1 |
4 | 0-0 |
|
32 | Ken Millin |
0 |
1 | 1 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
6 |
2 | 0-0 |
| 93 | Nick
Patterson | 0 |
1 |
1 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
2 |
0-0 |
|
39 | Pat O'Toole |
0 |
1 | 1 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
1 | 0-0 |
| 24 | Justin
Norbraten | 0 |
0 |
0 | 4 |
0 |
0 | 1 |
5 |
3-4 |
|
90 | Phil Wetherup |
0 |
1 | 1 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
2 | 0-0 |
| 28 | Darren
Halls | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
2 |
10-21 |
|
36 | Luke Forget |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
5 | 0-0 |
| 31 | Kevin
Croswell | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0-0 |
|
42 | Pat Cougevan |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0-0 |
| 39 | Mark
Miyashita | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 1 |
5 |
5-14 |
|
43 | Marshall
Abrams |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
3 | 0-0 |
| # | Minnesota | MIN |
GA | Saves | Shots |
|
# | Rochester | MIN |
GA | Saves | Shots |
| 93 | Nick Patterson | 66:07 |
17 | 39 | 56 |
|
39 | Pat O'Toole | 25:49 |
12 | 15 | 27 |
| 31 | Kevin Croswell | 0:00 |
0 | 0 | 0 |
|
90 | Phil Wetherup | 40:04 |
6 | 26 | 32 |
| | Empty Net | 0:23 |
0 | | 0 |
|
| Empty Net | 0:37 |
0 | |
0 |
| Scoring by Quarter | 1 | 2 |
3 | 4 | OT | F |
| Minnesota | 7 | 5 |
3 | 2 | 1 |
18 |
| Rochester | 3 | 2 |
9 | 3 | 0 |
17 |
| Team Stats | Power Play | SHG |
PIM | LB | Saves/Shots |
Face Offs |
| Minnesota | 4/10 | 0 |
18 | 87 | 39/56 |
18/39 |
| Rochester | 2/9 | 5 |
21 | 82 | 41/59 |
21/39 |
| Scratches | | |
| | |
| Minnesota | Chris Courtney | Rory McDade |
Colin Achenbach | Nick Inch | Travis Hill |
| Rochester | Mat McLeod | Andrew Potter |
Jack Reid | David Brown | Grant Crowley |
| 
