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Minnesota Swarm (9-5) 8
Rochester Knighthawks (8-7) 11
The Swarm Get Playoff Spot Despite Loss
Saturday, April 19, 2008
St. Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 11,568
The Minnesota Swarm have enjoyed their home cooking this year. Before Saturday night, the Swarm were 6-0 at home and that
included two overtime victories. But their home cooking at the X was tainted by some bad Knighthawks from Rochester, who ended
the Swarm's undefeated home season, 11-8. Even with the loss, the Swarm still earned a playoff spot for the third straight season.
Dan Marohl (5g 9a) got the Swarm the first marker of the game as he dove the crease and beat Knighthawk
goaltender Pat O'Toole with a backhander. Scott Evans scored the first two of the net for the Knighthawks with the first one
catching Swarm goaltender Nick Patterson (9-4 11.97 GAA .769 Save%) in a place on his body when hit
gets one's attention. Sean Pollock (21g 32a) tied the game with a nice fake on the crease past O'Toole
and Marohl gets the lead back as he attacked the net for his second goal of night to make it 3-2 in the favor of the Swarm after
the first quarter.
The Knighthawks opened the second quarter with two straight goals with Sc. Evans putting them back up by one at 3:59.
Craig Point (25g 32a) tied it on a pick and roll with Sean Pollock midway through the quarter. Shawn
Evans, Scott's younger brother, put the Knighthawks back up by one with a rocket past Patterson's left side.
Colin Achenbach (1g 1a) then intecepted a pass in the Swarm's defensive zone and found a hard charging
Travis Hill (3g 9a) for the tying breakaway goal. Sh. Evans put the Knighthawks back up with a goal sprinting off the bench
but the Swarm's leading scorer Andy Secore (26g 42a) was spotted by
Chad Culp (21g 29a) as he crossed the crease with 50 seconds left in the half to make it 6-6.
Secore scored on an Air Gait early in the third but was called for a crease violation that took away
a goal. That was the opening for John Grant to make his presence known. The goal he scored to put the
Knighthawks ahead got caught in Patterson's right shin pad, then dropped out and rolled into the net. The
second goal in a row to give the Knighthawks their biggest lead so far in the game was launched from the
wrong side of the floor for the lefthanded Grant. Soon after that goal, the Swarm eventually got a 5 on
3 power play for 1:41 but the Knighthawks league best penalty kill thwarted a golden opportunity for the
Swarm. With 2:23 to go, Ryan Sharp (9g 9a) cut the lead to one as he
scooped up a loosie in the Swarm defensive zone and led a 3 on 2 break for the goal. Sc. Evans
ended the third quarter scoring with his fourth goal making the score 9-7.
Secore scored the last goal for the Swarm 3:49 into the quarter to cut it to one with a rocket
from the restraining line. That left 11:11 on the clock and Rochester's defense finished off the Swarm
with Shawn Evans scoring on with extra attacker and Steve Toll scoring shorthanded with 2:04 left to
make the final, 11-8, in favor the Knighthawks.
Pollock led the Swarm with one goal and three assists. Both Marohl and Secore had two goals and Culp
had four assists. Patterson made 44 saves on 55 shots for a save percentage of .800. Shawn Williams
led the Knighthawks with six points (all of them assists. Scott Evans scored four goals and an assist
and both Shawn Evans and John Grant scored three goals. O'Toole shut down the Swarm again with 32 saves
on only 40 shots by the Swarm offense.
The Swarm defense did well enough to win even with the constant picks by the very talented Knighthawk
offense but the offense was not getting quality shots and generally waited too long to take them.
They tended to shoot too often from far out and couldn't get O'Toole low. The Swarm did well on
transition with goals by Travis Hill and Sharp but the main offense did not pick up the slack. An
example of the Swarm struggles was Ryan Ward (28g 34a) was held with a
point for only the second time as a member of the Swarm. The only other time was against the same
O'Toole led Knighthawks in a 12-6 loss on January 21, 2006.
After the dust settled Saturday night, the Swarm found themselves in the playoffs due to various
multi-team tiebreakers. They are also still in first place. Buffalo also joined them for the East
Division playoffs with their 13-9 home victory over Chicago. New York beat Phiadelphia to make both
of those teams 9-6 along with Buffalo and Rochester is still in contention a game behind at 8-7.
Playoff Scenarios:
- Sweeping Chicago next weekend, will make the Swarm, East Division regular season champions and they
will host any playoff game they play.
- If the Swarm win one of two and Buffalo loses to Portland, the Swarm will be the first seed in the
East and will host any playoff game they play.
- If the Swarm win one of two and Buffalo beats Portland, the Swarm will be the second seed in the
East and at least host a first round playoff game and there only road playoff game would be in Buffalo.
- If the Swarm get swept next weekend, they will not be able to host a first round playoff game and will be
either a third or fourth seed.
- If the Swarm get swept and five teams are 9-7, the Swarm will be the third seed.
- If the Swarm get swept and both Philadelphia and Rochester loses, the Swarm will be the third seed.
- If the Swarm get swept and Philadelphia wins, the Swarm will be the fourth seed.
The Swarm finish the regular season next weekend with two against Chicago Shamrox:
- Friday, April 25 at the Xcel Energy Center at 7:00 pm Central.
- Saturday, April 26 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois at 7:00 pm Central.
Game Statistics
Box Score
Minnesota 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 | 1 |
3 |
4 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 8 |
2 |
0-0 |
|
51 | Shawn Williams |
0 |
6 | 6 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
4 |
6 | 0-0 |
| 19 | Chad Culp | 0 |
4 |
4 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 7 |
4 |
0-0 |
|
19 | Scott Evans |
4 |
1 | 5 |
0 |
1 | 0 |
17 |
7 | 0-0 |
| 21 | Andy Secore | 2 |
1 |
3 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 12 |
3 |
0-0 |
|
15 | Shawn Evans | 3 |
1 |
4 | 2 |
0 |
0 | 11 |
3 |
0-0 |
| 9 | Craig Point |
1 |
2 | 3 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
12 |
3 | 0-1 |
|
24 | John Grant |
3 |
0 | 3 |
2 |
0 | 0 |
23 |
4 | 0-0 |
| 7 | Dan Marohl |
2 |
0 | 2 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
4 |
3 | 0-0 |
|
17 | Steve Toll |
1 |
2 | 3 |
0 |
0 | 1 |
2 |
10 | 0-0 |
| 26 | Ryan Sharp | 1 |
0 |
1 | 2 |
0 |
0 | 4 |
5 |
0-0 |
|
14 | Mat McLeod |
0 |
2 | 2 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
2 |
4 | 0-0 |
| 47 | Travis Hill | 1 |
0 |
1 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 1 |
8 |
8-21 |
|
32 | Ken Millin |
0 |
2 | 2 |
2 |
0 | 0 |
1 |
5 | 0-0 |
| 8 | Rory McDade | 0 |
1 |
1 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 3 |
2 |
0-0 |
|
2 | Chris Schiller | 0 |
1 |
1 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
9 |
0-0 |
| 12 | Eric Pacey | 0 |
1 |
1 | 2 |
0 |
0 | 1 |
2 |
0-0 |
|
5 | Sandy Chapman |
0 |
1 | 1 |
2 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
3 | 0-1 |
| 27 | Colin Achenbach | 0 |
1 |
1 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
5 |
0-0 |
|
20 | Bill Greer |
0 |
1 | 1 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
7 | 0-0 |
| 16 | Noah Talbot | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0-0 |
|
21 | Matt Lyons | 0 |
1 |
1 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
4 |
0-0 |
| 20 | Kyle Ross | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
3 |
0-0 |
|
39 | Pat O'Toole |
0 |
1 | 1 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0-0 |
| 23 | Jon Sullivan |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
7 | 0-0 |
|
11 | Regy Thorpe |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0-0 |
| 31 | Kevin Croswell | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0-0 |
|
18 | Jack Reid |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
1 | 0-0 |
| 34 | Nick Inch | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 2 |
5 |
0-0 |
|
23 | Stephen Hoar |
0 |
0 | 0 |
2 |
0 | 0 |
3 |
15 | 14-21 |
| 44 | Ryan Ward | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 8 |
3 |
0-0 |
|
42 | Pat Cougevan |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0-0 |
| 50 | Ryan Cousins | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 2 |
5 |
0-0 |
|
43 | Marshall Abrams |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
1 | 0-0 |
| 93 | Nick Patterson | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0-0 |
|
90 | Phil Wetherup |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 | 0-0 |
| # | Minnesota | MIN |
GA | Saves | Shots |
|
# | Rochester | MIN |
GA | Saves | Shots |
| 93 | Nick Patterson | 60:00 |
11 | 44 | 55 |
|
39 | Pat O'Toole | 59:59 |
8 | 32 | 40 |
| 31 | Kevin Croswell | 0:00 |
0 | 0 | 0 |
|
90 | Phil Wetherup | 0:00 |
0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | |
| | |
|
| Empty Net | 0:01 |
0 | |
0 |
| Scoring by Quarter | 1 | 2 |
3 | 4 | F |
| Minnesota | 3 | 3 |
1 | 1 | 8 |
| Rochester | 2 | 4 |
3 | 2 | 11 |
| Team Stats | Power Play | SHG |
PIM | LB | Saves/Shots |
SOG |
SOFF |
Face Offs |
| Minnesota | 0/5 | 0 |
4 | 60 | 44/55 |
40 |
24 |
8/22 |
| Rochester | 1/2 | 1 |
10 | 75 | 32/40 |
55 |
12 |
14/22 |
| Scratches | | |
| | |
| Minnesota | Chris Courtney | Keith Cromwell |
Andrew Biers | Justin Norbraten | Ian Rubel |
| Rochester | Cory Vitarelli | Andrew Potter |
Scott Ditzell | David Brown | Grant Crawley |
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