Minnesota Swarm (0-1)

vs
Portland LumberJax (0-0)

Exhibition Game

December 16th, 2006 9:05 pm CST
Save On Foods Memorial Centre
Victoria, British Columbia

TV/Internet/Radio Coverage: None

Minnesota Swarm website: www.mnswarm.com
Minnesota Swarm message board: http://boards.mnswarm.com/forums/
Portland LumberJax website: http://www.portlandjax.com/
National Lacrosse League website: www.nll.com
NLL message board: http://www.wingszone.com/nllmb/

Series

Overall: Tied 1-1
Home Overall: LumberJax 1-0
Road Overall: Swarm 1-0

Last year, the two teams met for the first time. In game one on March 17th, 2006, the Swarm came back from a 12-9 defecit to beat the LumberJax in Portland, 14-12. The LumberJax came to St. Paul on April 15th, 2006 in the regular season finale for both and beat the Swarm, 13-8.

The Minnesota Swarm will be playing their second of two exhibition games this season. Last Saturday in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Swarm lost 13-12 to the Toronto Rock and are now 0-1 in exhibition play. Sean Pollock scored three goals and Jamie Taylor and Kasey Beirnes scored two each in that game.

The Portland LumberJax will be playing in their one and only exhibition game of the season. Last year, the LumberJax, in their first season, won the regular season Western Division title with an 11-5. They were unable to capitalize in the playoffs losing to the Arizona Sting in the first round on April 22nd, 2006 at home by a score of 14-11.

Both teams have submitted their 23-man rosters today for the upcoming regular season. These are shown below. The Swarm are practically intact from last year with only one player, defenseman Nolan Heavenor, from last year’s season ending 23-man active roster not with the team. To replace Heavenor, who was traded to the Calgary Roughnecks for future draft picks in August, forward Scott Stewart has been activated from injured reserve where he ended last season. Each team in the league can keep a practice roster of up to three players. For the Swarm, defensemen Kyle Ross and Dave Ellis and goaltender Kevin Croswell will probably fill those spots.

For this exhibition game, the Swarm are planning to use players who generally reside and/or grew up in British Columbia, one the two indoor lacrosse hotbeds with Ontario being the other. That means Head Coach Duane Jacobs will get his first chance to see left-handed forward Kelly Hall in game action. Hall led the league in power play goals in the Swarm’s first season in 2005. Last year, Hall scored nine on the power play but injury caused him to be able to play in only nine games last year. A healthy Hall would go a long way in improving the Swarm’s offense, especially on the power play, as he has a cannon for an outside shot on the left side.

Goaltender Matt Disher should see a lot of action on Saturday night in his first exhibition game this year. Both he and Nick Patterson, who played in Winnipeg, will be battling to decide who will start in goal in the regular season opener against the Chicago Shamrox on January 13th. Patterson was more than adequate in Winnipeg but definitely didn’t secure the start next month based on that performance. The game on Saturday will help Jacobs to decide who will start but the ultimate decision won’t be made until near game time January 13th. What is good news for the Swarm is that either way Jacobs goes probably will not be wrong. One coin flip can do wonders for a first year team. Ask the LumberJax who won a coin flip with the Edmonton Rush to get the chance to pick first in last year’s entry draft. That pick turned out to be the cornerstone for the future of LumberJax lacrosse. Defenseman Brodie Merrill was selected first in the entry draft and immediately became a star with top billing in the NLL. In only his first season in the league, Merrill racked up the following accolades:

• NLL Defensive Player of Year award
• NLL Rookie of the Year
• NLL’s 1st Team All-Pro
• NLL All-Star game starter
• Nearly won the NLL’s MVP award
• 17 goals and 32 assists
• Second in the league in loose balls with 214

The Jax also have the league’s best ever goaltender in 42 year old Dallas Eliuk back, who is the oldest player in the league on an active roster. According to training camp reports, it does not appear Eliuk has lost anything but has gained a bit, as he has grown more comfortable in Portland after spending a decade and an half in Philadelphia.

I think both teams will let it fly on Saturday. A lot of players on both teams will have friends and families in attendance as both teams draw a lot of players in the Victoria/Vancouver area. That in itself should ratchet up the intensity in this exhibition. With Ryan Ward in the line-up for this game, expect a better flow to the Swarm offense. Presto, I see a Swarm 15-13 victory.

Minnesota Swarm: Head Coach Duane Jacobs

* - Projected to play on Saturday vs. Portland

22-F-R-Kasey Beirnes
18-D-R-Andrew Biers *
10-D-L-Brock Boyle
50-D-R-Ryan Cousins *
19-F-L-Chad Culp
1-G-L-Matt Disher *
11-F-L-Kelly Hall *
73-F-L-Dean Hill
47-D-R-Travis Hill (FO)
77-D-L-Riley Kemp *
55-D-R-Michael Kilby *
15-F-L-Spencer Martin *
8-F-L-Rory McDade *
39-D-R-Mark Miyashita (FO) *
12-D-R-Eric Pacey *
93-G-R-Nick Patterson *
17-F-R-Sean Pollock *
48-F-R-Scott Stewart *
23-D-R-Jon Sullivan *
33-D-R-Shawn Summerfield
40-F-L-Jamie Taylor *
16-D-L-Noah Talbot *
44-F-R-Ryan Ward *

Practice Roster (Projected)

43-G-R-Kevin Croswell
28-D-R-Dave Ellis
20-D-R-Kyle Ross *

Portland Lumberjax: Head Coach Derek Keenan

# - Former Swarm

49-D-R-Bruce Alexander
14-F-R-Ryder Bateman (FO) #
20-D-L-Adam Bysouth
5-D-Ian Crashley
36-D-R-D.J. Driscoll
35-G-R-Dallas Eliuk
2-D-L-Ray Guze #
3-F-R-Del Halladay
37-F-R-Tyler Heavenor
11-F-R-Matt Holman
90-F-L-Mike Hominuck
12-D-R-Pat Jones (FO)
30-G-R-Matt King
8-F-L-Ryan Marshall
24-F-L-Scott Mazuren
17-D-L-Brodie Merrill
44-F-L-Peter Morgan
33-F-L-Richard Morgan
7-D-R-Graham Palmer
22-F-R-Ryan Powell
1-D-L-Jed Prossner
26-D-L-Ryan Sharp
10-D-L-Scott Stapleford