Minnesota Swarm (4-3 H 1-3 A 3-0)
	Philadelphia Wings (3-2 H 0-1 A 3-1)

Friday, February 10, 2006
St. Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 7,524

The Swarm got the crowd jacked up last night with their first home victory of the year, an 11-10 win over the Philadelphia Wings. With the victory and before Saturday night s games, the Swarm are only a half game out of first place and squarely in playoff contention.

Buffalo 3-1
Rochester 4-2
SWARM 4-3
Philadelphia 3-2
Toronto 3-4

They also have won the season series against the Wings 2-1.

The Swarm started off very quickly with #10 Chad Culp scoring 34 seconds into the game.  After the Wings tied it up, new Swarm member #48 Scott Stewart, scored his first goal as a Swarm, with a backhanded shot at the crease and #34 Shawn Nadelen draped over him.. The first ended with another Wings goal to tie it at two.

Unfortunately, for Stewart, his night and probably season ended in the 2nd Quarter, when he tore his left knee as he looked to take a shot. However, the Swarm answered with 2 goals to start the quarter from #17 Sean Pollock and #44 Ryan Ward. The Wings finished off the scoring in the 2nd with two goals to go to halftime tied 4-4.

The Swarm started quickly again in the third with goals from #22 Kasey Beirnes and Culp to grab a 6-4 lead. The Wings, who have pretty good firepower on offense, came back and took the lead with 3 goals in 46 seconds. After the last of the three goals, Swarm goalie #93 Nick Patterson, had to get his left shin pad adjusted which took a minute or two. With his shin pad fixed, Patterson watched as Culp and Pollock scored for the Swarm to give them a 8-7 lead after three quarters.

Ryan Ward opened the 4th quarter with a goal to give the Swarm a two goal lead. Then with 12:43 to go, #24 Brock Boyle got his Muhammad Ali on with the Wings #15 Luke Wiles. The were tied up, slinging fists at each other as they circumnavigated the goal. Eventually, Boyle got the takedown, popped up like a shot, raised his arms to get the crowd jacked up. No doubt the Boyle is many of the fans favorite. Boyle, 5- 8 175 mentioned after the game that the bigger Wiles. 5-11 Wiles was swinging high and missing.

After a great stick check by #77 Riley Kemp on a #22 Dan Finck breakaway, Patterson outletted to #66 D'arcy Berthiaume, who ran the ball up the floor. Berthiaume appeared to slow up in order to allow the offense to get on the floor, but he caught the Wings off guard and rifled passed Wings goalie #2 Erik Miller.

The Wings; however, furiously rallied with three straight goals in a one minute and eleven second span to tie it at 10-10. But the Swarm all night countered the Wings, with Chad Culp finally getting checkmate with his fourth goal of the night and the game winner for the Swarm as they won 11-10.

Assistant Head Coach Paul St. John was pleased with the win, the rock-solid defense and the improved offensive output. He said that with a four game road trip, that if the Swarm go 2-2, it would put the Swarm in good position for a playoff spot, especially with the last 4 of 5 at home. General Manager Marty O Neill was overheard as saying it was very good game for the Swarm even though he was also heard as saying that he had issues with the officiating in the 4th quarter of the last two games.

The Swarm were led in scoring by #10 Chad Culp with 4 goals and 4 assists. Culp had a career game Friday Night. Whenever, the Swarm needed a goal, Culp was there. After the Wings scored three straight in both the 3rd and 4th, Culp scored to take the game back for the Swarm. With eight points, Culp also set a team record for most points in one game. Both Culp and Boyle really stepped it up and got the crowd ramped up to a fever pitch.

Not to be remised, but other players scored for the Swarm as well who scored eleven times on 34 shots:
#17 Sean Pollock (2 goals and 2 assists)
#44 Ryan Ward (2-2)
#40 Jamie Taylor (0-4)
#22 Kasey Beirnes (1-1)
#48 Scott Stewart (1-0)
#66 D arcy Berthiaume (1-0)
#12 Eric Pacey (0-1)
#19 Darryl Gibson (0-1)
#50 Ryan Cousins (0-1)
#77 Riley Kemp (0-1)

In goal, #93 Nick Patterson got two assists, but even more importantly stopped he stopped 41of 51 shots. With the win, Patterson is now 4-0 this season with an 8.89 GAA and an .828 save percentage.

The All-Star players will be announced early this week for the game in Toronto on February 25th at 3pm. The game can be seen on KSTC Channel 45 in the Twin Cities on a tape-delayed basis at 9pm on February 25th. Swarm players with very good if not great chances of going are goalie #93 Nick Patterson, defensemen #24 Brock Boyle and #19 Darryl Gibson and forwards #44 Ryan Ward, #10 Chad Culp and #40 Jamie Taylor.

To watch the game reviewed above, turn to FSN North on Wednesday, February 15th at noon CST. The next game for the Swarm is February 18th at Buffalo s HSBC Arena against the Buffalo Bandits at 6:30 pm CST. That game can be watched on B2 Networks on a broadband internet connection for $6.00. Go to www.mnswarm.com and click on the B2 Networks link on the homepage.

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