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

at
Buffalo Bandits
1-2 (Home 1-0 Road 0-2)

The Revenge is a Bandit best served cold
edition of Minnesota Swarm Lacrosse

January 20th, 2007 6:30 pm CST
HSBC Arena
Buffalo, New York

TV/Internet/Radio Coverage:

Live: B2 Networks: https://www.b2livetv.com/bp/nll.htm $6.00 per game
Minnesota Swarm website: http://www.mnswarm.com/
Minnesota Swarm message board: http://boards.mnswarm.com/forums/
Buffalo Bandits website: http://www.bandits.com/
National Lacrosse League website: http://www.nll.com/
NLL message board: http://www.wingszone.com/nllmb/

Series

Overall: Buffalo 6-1
Home Regular Season: Buffalo 3-0
Road Regular Season: Buffalo 2-1
Road Playoffs: Buffalo 1-0
Last Year: Buffalo 3-1
Home Regular Season Last Year: Buffalo 1-0
Road Regular Season Last Year: Tied 1-1
Road Playoffs Last Year: Buffalo 1-0

Standings as of January 14th, 2007

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 Swarm will visit Buffalo after playing at the Xcel Energy Center the night before against the Rochester Knighthawks. This will be the first time these two teams have met since last year’s first round playoff game in Buffalo, which the Bandits won 11-10 on April 23rd, 2006. Head Coach Duane Jacobs was an assistant with Buffalo in that game. The Bandits went on to the Champions Cup where they lost to the Colorado Mammoth 16-9.

The Bandits went 1-1 last weekend beating the New York Titans 16-14 in Buffalo on Friday in front of a sellout crowd of 18,690. The next night, the Bandits went to Colorado for a rematch of last year’s championship with the Mammoth. The rematch also went in Colorado’s favor 11-10 in overtime.

The Swarm will probably have a few different players in the line up against the Bandits after playing the Knighthawks. The big change will be in goal where Matt Disher is expected to start in his first action of the year. Disher has done well against Buffalo lately. He came in relief of Nick Patterson (0-1 11.00 GAA .796 Save %) in last year’s playoff game and nearly pulled out a come-from-behind victory. He also was in goal in the Swarm’s only victory in franchise history over the Bandits on March 4th, 2006 by a score of 11-8 in Buffalo. That was the same game that Bandit John Tavares (8g 10a) broke the NLL record of points scored over a career. By now, Tavares is miles beyond that mark. Nevertheless, Disher has looked very good in the few practices the Swarm have had and should be ready to go. His counterpart in goal maybe Steve Dietrich, last year’s NLL MVP; however, Dietrich has yet to play this year due to arthroscopic knee surgery but he has suited up. If Dietrich is unable to go yet, Mike Thompson (1-2 11.68 GAA .778 Save %) will be expected to play. Thompson has done well in Dietrich’s absence in his first year with the Bandits. When Dietrich is healthy, both should combine to be either the second or third best goaltending duo in the league. We all know the top goaltending duo in the league resides in Minnesota.

Dean Hill believes he will crack the line up for the game in Buffalo. Last year, Dean was a rookie who finally got his chance in the next to last game of the regular season. Against San Jose, Dean scored four goals in his debut, then the following week against Portland he scored two more. Six goals in two games was impressive for Dean but the knock is can he produce in the 2nd half of games like he can in the 1st half. Fast starts but slow finishes maybe keeping Dean out of the line up. If Dean plays, expect a line up with four lefties and three righties. Add Chad Culp (1g 2a), Jamie Taylor and either Spencer Martin (1g 2a) or Rory McDade (1a) on the left side. Jacobs may not want to play Kelly Hall (1g 1a) in back-to –back games on a weekend because of his chronic bone spurs in his feet. Buffalo will put a defense out on the floor which was the league’s best last year and comes back strong again. Chris White (1a 5 LB), Billy Dee Smith (1a 6 LB) and Kyle Laverty (1a 17 LB) lead the unit. They are extremely physical and don’t take too kindly to the opposition. The Swarm will want to keep their emotions in check when agitated or there will be a lot of time spent in the box which will be more disadvantageous to the Swarm than the Bandits.

The Swarm defense gets no rest against the Bandits after a night of fending of the Knighthawks. Ryan Cousins (1g 9 LB) will once again lead the D and have his eye on Tavares. As the league’s all-time leading scorer, the thirty-eight year old veteran is still a top five offensive threat in this league and shows little if any wear. Compared to John Grant in Rochester, Tavares is more of distributor than scorer but he is lethal. Next option for the Bandits is Mark Steenhuis (5g 1a), who is a flashy two-way player with quick moves to the goal. The Swarm will probably have someone like Riley Kemp (4 LB) or Jon Sullivan (2 LB) who can match him with speed and quick feet to keep Steenhuis from getting alone on net. Dan Teat (4g 8a) is a player the Swarm have to do better against. Teat has been a thorn in the Swarm’s side with huge games in his career, collecting 14 goals and 18 assists in seven games against the Swarm.

Swarm players have said they match up pretty well with the Bandits. The overall record hasn’t shown it but game by game, the Swarm have improved their play against the Bandits. The Bandits will be working all week on stopping the Swarm but I don’t think it will be enough. The Swarm win 10 – 9 and finish the weekend with a sweep over the two East Division powerhouses from western New York.

The Swarm’s next game is on Saturday, January 27th in Calgary against the Roughnecks at the Pengrowth Saddledome at 8:30 pm CST. The next game for Buffalo is at home against the Toronto Rock on Friday, February 2nd at 7:30 pm EST.

Minnesota Swarm

Head Coach: Duane Jacobs (former Bandit)
General Manager & Assistant Head Coach: Marty O'Neill (former Bandit)
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 (former Bandit)
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 Bandit)
44-F-R-Ryan Ward (A)

Buffalo Bandits

Head Coach and General Manager: Darris Kilgour
Assistant Head Coach: Troy Cordingley
Assistant Head Coach: Ron Henry

72-F-R-Cory Bomberry (FO)
2-D-R-Troy Bonterre
26-F-R-Brett Bucktooth
27-D-R-Kyle Couling (A)
54-F-L-Jason Crosbie
30-G-R-Steve Dietrich
51-F-L-Kevin Dostie
7-F-L-Tony Henderson (former Swarm)
5-D-L-Clay Hill
16-D-R-Rich Kilgour {C}
17-D-L-Kyle Laverty
10-D-R-Pat McCready
99-F-R-Delby Powless
86-G-R-Daniel Sams
21-D-L-Daryl Seymour
3-D-L-Billy Dee Smith
22-D-L-Tony Sorci
9-F-R-Mark Steenhuis
11-F-L-John Tavares (A)
15-F-R-Dan Teat
66-G-R-Mike Thompson
81-F-L-Roger Vyse
6-D-R-Chris White