Minnesota Swarm
6-5 (Home 3-3 Road 3-2)

vs
Colorado Mammoth
10-2 (Home 6-0 Road 4-2)

The 1,000th Regular Season Game In NLL History
Edition of Minnesota Swarm Lacrosse

March 31st, 2007 7:00pm CST
The Hive
St. Paul, Minnesota

TV/Internet/Radio Coverage:

Webcast: B2 Networks: https://www.b2livetv.com/bp/nll.htm $6.00 per game
The game was originally part of the Versus TV package with the league but was dropped.
Minnesota Swarm website: http://www.mnswarm.com
Minnesota Swarm message board: http://boards.mnswarm.com/forums/
Colorado Mammoth website: http://www.coloradomammoth.com
National Lacrosse League website: http://www.nll.com
NLL message board: http://www.wingszone.com/nllmb/

Series

Overall: Colorado 1-0
Home Overall: Colorado 1-0
Road Overall: N/A

The Mammoth visited the Swarm for the first indoor lacrosse game in Minnesota on December 10, 2004. In that exhibition, the Mammoth beat the Swarm 16-6. The only time the teams have played each other in the regular season was on April 1, 2005 when the Mammoth beat the Swarm 15-9 at the Xcel Energy Center.

East Division W-L (Division Record) [vs. Swarm] (Goal Differential)

1. x-Rochester Knighthawks 10-2 (7-1) [0-1] (+33)
2. Buffalo Bandits 8-4 (7-2) [2-0] (+14)
3. MINNESOTA SWARM 6-5 (5-4) (-1)
4. Philadelphia Wings 5-6 (3-4) [0-1] (0)
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5. Toronto Rock 5-7 (4-4) [1-0] (0)
6. Chicago Shamrox 4-8 (3-7) [1-1] (-16)
7. New York Titans 2-10 (2-9) [0-2] (-28)

West Division W-L (Division Record) [vs. Swarm] (Goal Differential)

1. x-COLORADO MAMMOTH 10-2 (7-1) (+34)
2. Arizona Sting 7-4 (5-2) (+12)
3. San Jose Stealth 6-5 (5-2) (+10)
4. Calgary Roughnecks 6-5 (4-3) [1-0] (+2) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Edmonton Rush 4-6 (2-6) (-20)
6. Portland LumberJax 2-11 (0-9) [0-1] (-40)

x-Clinched playoff spot

Both the Swarm and defending National Lacrosse League champion Mammoth will meet on Saturday, in the NLL 1,000th regular season game, after being on the losing end of their games last weekend. The Swarm lost 13-6 at home against the Toronto Rock on Friday, March 23. Dean Hill (21g 12a) and Scott Stewart (12g 17a) scored two goals each to lead the Swarm. The loss dropped the Swarm one game behind the second-place Buffalo Bandits in the East. The Bandits have already won the tiebreaker between the teams so in theory the Swarm are two games behind the Bandits for a chance to host a first round playoff game.

Those same Bandits ended the Mammoth’s six game winning streak last Saturday in Buffalo by a score of 19-15. Brian Langtry (27g 34a) led the Mammoth with three goals and four assists while Gavin Prout (19g 46a) scored a goal and dished out six assists. The Mammoth play the night before at home against the Arizona Sting. If the Mammoth win both of their games this weekend, they will win the West Division regular season title. They also will win the division with a victory over Arizona, an Arizona win over San Jose and at least one Portland victory over Calgary.

The Swarm will have to bring everything to the table on Saturday to beat the Mammoth. They definitely can’t play like they did against Toronto last Friday or the Mammoth will run them out of the Xcel Energy Center. The defense led by Ryan Cousins (6g 11a) will have quite a challenge against the second best offense in the league that scores 13.92 goals per game. Prout is the team captain and leading scorer for the Mammoth. An excellent passer, Prout, the first overall pick in the 2000 draft by the defunct New York Saints, assumed the leadership role on the team last year after what many consider the greatest lacrosse player ever, Gary Gait, retired to become the Mammoth’s head coach. Since then, Prout, Gait and the Mammoth won the league championship and appear headed back this year. Prout has many talented options that the Swarm will have to be aware of. Foremost, is second year player Dan Carey (31g 33a), who always seems to be open to the goaltender’s left side for a Prout pass. Langtry is having maybe his best season of his career and rookie Jamie Shewchuk (19g 22a) has been a pleasant surprise. The Swarm hope to have Riley Kemp (5a) back for this game on defense after he missed his first ever game in the three year history of the team, a total of 43 games. Expect Kyle Ross to play his first game in his career as Swarm Head Coach Duane Jacobs looks to reinvigorate the defensive unit after last Friday’s game.

The Swarm will also look to regroup after the worst offensive performance of the year. Spencer Martin (8g 16a) should be back in the line up after missing last Friday’s game. Martin will be able to create space for Ryan Ward (18g 43a) to make passes and for players like Mike Hominuck (18g 34a) to get off quality shots on goal. The Mammoth defense has been consistent for the most part led by Pat Coyle (2a) and John Gallant (1g 7a). The defense is patient, opportunistic with just enough physicality to keep opponents wary.

What the Swarm will really have to be careful of is the Mammoth’s transition game. The best in the league at capitalizing on their opponents mistakes, the Mammoth have the deadly Josh Sims (16g 16a) who will fly to the net for a goal at a moment’s notice and rookie Nenad Gajic (7g 22a) who will be the one forcing the opponent to make those mistakes. The Swarm have to reduce their turnovers and when they do turn it over, they will have to change over very quickly because the Mammoth are more likely to go to the net then to hold up and wait for the offense to come on the floor.

The Swarm will be facing one of top three face off men in the league in the Mammoth’s Jamie Hanford (3a; 206 of 311 66%). Hanford is very physical and will give the Swarm’s Travis Hill (4a ; 37 of 72 51%) all he can handle. Travis did well last Friday replacing Mark Miyashita (3g 5a; 129 of 215 60%) who was placed on injured reserve for the rest of the season last week. This is Travis’s time to shine and if he could win at least 45% of the draws against Hanford, the Swarm will have a very good chance at victory.

Nick Patterson (5-4 11.80 GAA .765 Save %) turned in a solid performance last Friday in relief of Matt Disher (1-1 16.00 GAA .689 Save %). Patterson should get the start and don’t be surprised if he comes through with a fantastic performance. The Mammoth counter with Gee Nash (8-0 11.01 GAA .786 Save %) in net. An all-star this year, Nash has established himself as one of the top goaltenders in the league.

Jacobs said after the last game that the Swarm will definitely be ready for this game. He expects a substantial improvement in performance and with the playoff race tightening; the Swarm have to get back to winning now. The Mammoth will have a tough game the night before against Arizona, so the Swarm should be ready to pounce on Saturday. If the Swarm limit turnovers, they should prevail with a “mammoth” win by a score of 15-13.

The Swarm will have the following promotions on Saturday:

• First 10,000 fans receive a Swarm Frisbee
• NLL to play 1,000th game on Saturday: http://www.nll.com/article.php?id=2852

The Swarm go on the road for two next weekend against two tough division rivals. On Friday, April 6, they travel to Toronto to play the Rock at the Air Canada Centre at 6:30 pm CST. The following night, April 7, they commute to Rochester to play the Knighthawks at the Blue Cross Arena at 6:35 pm CST. The Mammoth’s next game is on Thursday, April 12 as they host the San Jose Stealth at 8:00 pm CST at the Pepsi Center.

Minnesota Swarm

Head Coach: Duane Jacobs
General Manager & Assistant Head Coach: Marty O'Neill
Assistant Head Coach: Derek Moffat

1-G-L-Matt Disher
6-D-L-Ashton McLean
8-F-L-Rory McDade
10-D-L-Brock Boyle
12-D-R-Eric Pacey
15-F-L-Spencer Martin
16-D-L-Noah Talbot
17-F-R-Sean Pollock
18-D-R-Andrew Biers
19-F-L-Chad Culp
20-D-R-Kyle Ross
22-F-R-Kasey Beirnes
23-D-R-Jon Sullivan
26-D-L-Ryan Sharp
44-F-R-Ryan Ward (A)
47-D-R-Travis Hill (FO)
48-F-R-Scott Stewart
50-D-R-Ryan Cousins {C}
55-D-R-Michael Kilby (A)
73-F-L-Dean Hill
77-D-L-Riley Kemp
90-F-L-Mike Hominuck
93-G-R-Nick Patterson

Colorado Mammoth

General Manager: Steve Govett
Head Coach: Gary Gait
Assistant Head Coach: Russ Heard
Assistant Head Coach: George McGreeney
Assistant Head Coach: Dan Pratt

2-D-L-Pat Coyle (A)
3-F-R-Mike Law
4-T-R-Josh Sims
5-D-R-Jamie Hanford (A) (FO)
6-F-R-Brian Langtry
8-T-L-Nick Carlson
9-F-R-Gavin Prout {C}
11-D-L-John Gallant
13-T-R-Scott Davidson (FO)
18-T-R-Nenad Gajic
19-F-R-Ben Prepchuk
28-D-L-Tom Ethington
30-G-L-Chris Levis
38-G-L-Gee Nash
44-F-L-Dan Carey
47-T-R-Jason Bloom
48-D-R-Rich Catton
55-D-L-Jim Moss
66-D-R-Matt Leveque
72-F-L-Jordan Cornfield
77-D-R-Dave Stilley
85-F-L-Jamie Shewchuk
94-F-L-Matt Taylor