Minnesota Swarm
0-1 (Home 0-1 Road 0-0)

at
Rochester Knighthawks
2-1 (Home 1-0 Road 1-1)

The 101 ways to carve a Knighthawk
by Jon Sullivan edition of Minnesota Swarm Lacrosse

January 19th, 2007 7:00pm CST
Xcel Energy Center aka The Hive
St. Paul, Minnesota

TV/Internet/Radio Coverage:

Live: B2 Networks: https://www.b2livetv.com/bp/nll.htm $6.00 per game
Audio: http://www.knighthawks.net/default.aspx Free
Minnesota Swarm website: http://www.mnswarm.com/
Minnesota Swarm message board: http://boards.mnswarm.com/forums/
Rochester Knighthawks website: http://www.knighthawks.net/default.aspx
National Lacrosse League website: http://www.nll.com/
NLL message board: http://www.wingszone.com/nllmb/

Series

Overall: Knighthawks 4-2
Home Overall: Knighthawks 2-1
Road Overall: Knighthawks 2-1
Last Year: Knighthawks 3-0
Home Last Year: Knighthawks 2-0
Road Last Year: Knighthawks 1-0

East Division W-L (Division Record) (Goal Differential)

1. Chicago Shamrox 2-0 (2-0) (+4)
2. Rochester Knighthawks 2-1 (1-0) (+2)
3. Buffalo Bandits 1-2 (1-0) (0)
4. MINNESOTA SWARM 0-1 (0-1) (-1)
5. Toronto Rock 0-1 (0-1) (-4)
6. Philadelphia Wings 0-2 (0-0) (-3)
7. New York Titans 0-2 (0-2) (-5)

West Division W-L (Division Record) (Goal Differential)

1. Colorado Mammoth 3-0 (1-0) (+10)
2. Portland LumberJax 2-0 (0-0) (+3)
3. Calgary Roughnecks 1-1 (1-1) (0)
4. Edmonton Rush 1-1 (0-1) (0)
5. Arizona Sting 1-1 (1-1) (-1)
6. San Jose Stealth 1-2 (1-1) (-5)

The Minnesota Swarm started their season last Saturday, January 13th in disappointing fashion by losing to the expansion Chicago Shamrox 11-10 at the Xcel Energy Center. The Swarm have yet to win a home opener and have went 0-6 at home in the month of January in their three year history. This weekend they will play Rochester at home on Friday and travel to Buffalo to play the Bandits on Saturday.

The Rochester Knighthawks have won two straight games as they come to St. Paul. Last Saturday, the Knighthawks had their home opener and their fans got to see their team earn a very convincing 10-6 victory over the Toronto Rock. The Knighthawks play the Rock again this Saturday traveling from St. Paul to Toronto.

The Swarm had very little player turnover this off-season; however, unless you’re a member of the Swarm with the first name of Ryan or you’re a Swarm goaltender, you may have a better chance at rolling double sevens on the craps table than predicting if you’re going to dress for a particular game. I think that Head Coach Duane Jacobs has a vision of what he wants to do with the Swarm; however, I don’t think the players have too good a read on what it is. Not being together as a team for nearly four weeks before last Friday’s practice may have something to do with it; however, I think Jacobs is the right man at the head of the table. Maybe more than any one team, the Swarm have a lot of fly-ins coming from both the west and the east this season compared to last; therefore, it is imperative that while it is difficult to get together as a team, that each player has to discipline themselves to work even harder alone and/or in small groups than most to be prepared for games this season.

It looks like General Manager Marty O’Neill is following through on getting Travis Hill more floor time this year. Travis got the nod over Mark Miyashita, who took the large majority of draws last year, at the face off circle on Saturday night and went 9 of 21 and grabbed eight loose balls. Expect Miyashita to be in the line up on Friday; however, I believe Jacobs was very pleased by Travis’ performance. Now Jacobs has more options at the face off circle and he can always use Andrew Biers (1g 4 of 4 on face offs) to spell either during the game.

Many were surprised to see Kasey Beirnes and Jamie Taylor out of the line up on Saturday. Expect both to play against Rochester. I think they may use all four of their righties and three lefties on offense against the Knighthawks. Joining Taylor on the left side, I see Spencer Martin (1g 2a) and Kelly Hall (1g 1a) getting the nod. This is definitely a work in progress for the Swarm. Ryan Ward (1g 2a) will have to crank it up a notch or two over last weekend after going 1 for 12 on shots. Scott Stewart (1g 3a) may have been the bright spot on offense for the Swarm as he has now come back from injury that sideline for most of last year. I know that Beirnes is definitely ready for Friday and that he wants to let everyone know that it’s detrimental to sit him. The Knighthawk defense is solid with players like Mike Hasen (1a 13 LB) but it is middle of the road. What the Swarm will have to do is when they miss; they better scoop up those loose balls. If they don’t, expect the very speedy Steve Toll (3g 2a 25 LB) to pounce and score going the other way.

The defense looked very solid against Chicago; especially Ryan Cousins (1g 9 LB) and Brock Boyle (2g). Eric Pacey should get in his first game of the year and maybe even new acquisition Ashton McLean, who was drafted by the Knighthawks in the 2nd round in the 2006 entry draft but released last month. They did struggle a bit down a man but that should come around. The big problem for the defense is the Rochester offense; which has terrorized the Swarm the last two years. They have cannons blazing from the left and the right side of the floor. The howitzer is John Grant (3g 5a) who could still score if his entire body was duct taped and placed in a phone booth. Even more dangerous is when he passes, which he does very well. He can get the ball to Shawn Williams (7g 8a) who has a nose for the net. He can dish it to one of two Evans brothers, older brother Scott (8g 4a) on the right and younger brother Shawn (8g 6a) on the left. Even with the Swarm covering those three and probably Grant shadowed by two Swarm, Grant can still pass it to Mike Accursi (3g 6a). In a nutshell, the Knighthawks may have the best offense in the league and the Swarm will have to have quick and precise communication on defense to limit the damage.

Nick Patterson (0-1 11.00 GAA .796 Save %), in taking the loss, was very strong in goal making saves from all angles. On Saturday, he looked even better than last year and if the offense doesn’t crank it up, Patterson will need to be spectacular. I think Patterson will again get the nod on Friday while having Matt Disher play on Saturday in Buffalo. Rochester will counter with Pat O’Toole (2-0 10.17 GAA .812 Save %) in net. O’Toole has played well against the Swarm in his career and held the Swarm in single-digits in goals allowed in each of the three games these two teams played against each other last year.

The Knighthawks may appear very menacing and they are. But on Friday, I believe the Swarm will have regrouped for the better. Beirnes and Taylor I think will come out firing. Patterson and the defense will do just enough to slow up the Knighthawk offense. In conclusion, the Swarm win at home 12-11.

The Swarm’s next game is on Saturday, January 20th in Buffalo against the Bandits at HSBC Arena at 6:30 pm CST. This will be the Swarm’s first shot at Buffalo since the Bandits finished the Swarm off 11-10 in the playoffs last year. The next game for Rochester is on the road in Toronto to play the Rock on Saturday, January 20th at 7:30 pm EST.

The Swarm will have the following promotions on Friday:

• First 5,000 fans receive a Swarm player card magnet
• Rock, Paper, Scissors Night - http://www.mnswarm.com/news/news.asp?news_id=211

The tailgate for this game due to it being a Friday game when many are at work may or may not be held. If it is not held, the Hive will meet at the Iron Range Bar & Grill inside the Xcel Energy Center when the doors open at 6:00 pm. Updates about the status of Friday’s Swarm tailgate can be found on the Swarm Message Board (http://boards.mnswarm.com/forums/).

Minnesota Swarm

Head Coach: Duane Jacobs (former Knighthawk)
General Manager & Assistant Head Coach: Marty O'Neill
Assistant Head Coach: Derek Moffat

22-F-R-Kasey Beirnes
18-D-R-Andrew Biers
10-D-L-Brock Boyle
50-D-R-Ryan Cousins (C)
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 (A)
15-F-L-Spencer Martin
8-F-L-Rory McDade
6-D-L-Ashton McLean
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
16-D-L-Noah Talbot
40-F-L-Jamie Taylor (former Knighthawk)
44-F-R-Ryan Ward (A)

Rochester Knighthawks

Head Coach: Ed Comeau
General Manager: Jody Gage
Assistant Head Coach: Tom Cincebox
Assistant Head Coach: Sean Ferris
Assistant Head Coach: John Munroe

43-D-L-Marshall Abrams
44-F-R-Mike Accursi
26-D-R-David Brown
5-D-L-Sandy Chapman
42-D-L-Pat Cougevan
12-F-R-Brian Croswell
25-D-R-Scott Ditzell
7-D-R-Pat Dutton
19-F-R-Scott Evans
15-F-L-Shawn Evans
36-D-L-Luke Forget
24-F-L-John Grant
20-D-L-Bill Greer
10-D-L-Mike Hasen (C)
23-D-R-Stephen Hoar (FO)
32-F-L-Ken Millin
41-G-R-Mike Miron
39-G-R-Pat O’Toole
18-D-?-Jack Reid
2-D-R-Chris Schiller
11-D-R-Regy Thorpe (A)
17-D-R-Steve Toll
51-F-L-Shawn Williams (A)