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1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q OT F
Minnesota Swarm Minnesota Swarm
(7-3 H 4-0 A 3-3)
5 3 2 3 13
Chicago Shamrox Chicago Shamrox
(1-7 H 1-4 A 0-3)
0 2 2 5 9

Swarm Enact A Pre-St. Patrick's Day Massacre Against Shamrox

Friday, March 14, 2008
St. Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 13,004

Is the answer to why the Minnesota Swarm had lost three in a row as simple as not having Colin Achenbach (0g 0a 5 LB) in the line up for any of those games? Maybe or maybe not but Achenbach was in the line up last night getting two loose balls, six penalty minutes and nearly scoring his first goal as the Minnesota Swarm ended their three game losing streak with a 13-9 victory over the Chicago Shamrox at the Xcel Energy Center last night.

I think a large majority of Swarmiacs would say that the return of Andy Secore (18g 27a) from a nagging injury that caused him to miss the last two games and Craig Point (21g 25a) being back to being bang on again after a tough game last weekend in Buffalo may have had a large influence in the Swarm regaining their winning ways. Secore did not waste any time as he got the Swarm's first goal of the game in just under two minutes after the start. Not only did Secore return to the lineup, the Swarm's next goal scorer , Andrew Biers (1g 2a), made his 2008 debut after being laid up with a knee injury since April 2007 as he came down in full flight on Shamrox goaltender Matt Roik to put the Swarm up 2-0. Point worked the pick and roll well with Sean Pollock (14g 24a) at the half way point of the first quarter to increase the the lead to three. A minute later, Kyle Ross (3g 6a) beat his defender to the net for the Swarm's fourth goal. However, the Shamrox, in particular Drew Candy, did not take to kindly to Ross' scoring touch. Candy came up to Ross right after the goal to speak his mind with his fists and Ross was more than up to the challenge as they fought each other to an most exciting draw. It was so thrilling that Swarm captain Ryan Cousins (7g 5a) had some imaginative dialogue with the referee about it which put the Swarm a man down. It is possible that the Shamrox thought they had stemmed the Swarm-ing tide that was cascading over them but Ryan Sharp (7g 6a) scooped up the loose ball off the ensuing face off and stormed right to the goal to increase the lead to 5-0. Sharp's shorthanded goal ended the Shamrox's momentum cold. Not only were the Swarm scoring on transition and peppering Roik with 16 shots in the first, the Shamrox could only get six shots on net in the quarter and even former Swarm Brock Boyle was thwarted by Rory McDade's (1g 3a) on the Shamrox's best chance of the quarter on a breakaway late in the quarter.

The Swarm started well in the second quarter as well with Travis Hill (2g 5a) finishing off a 2 on 1 breakaway to put the Swarm up by six. A few minutes later just after the Swarm killed a Shamrox power play, Secore bolts off the bench to catch the Shamrox napping to extend the lead to 7-0. It's hard to believe but Nick Patterson (7-3 11.91 GAA .770 Save %) does give up a goal here or there. It took the Shamrox 27 minutes and 8 seconds to do it before Josh Wasson finally got one past Patterson on the power play. The Swarm answered two minutes later when Biers forced a turnover on a Shamrox power play and found the unstoppable scoring machine that is Jon Sullivan (1g 4a) for the shorthanded breakaway goal with 51 seconds left in the half. For Sullivan, that is his first goal of the year and first regular season goal since February 18, 2006 in Buffalo. But if your counting, Sullivan scored in last year's playoff game in Buffalo on an empty net goal being manned by the National Lacrosse League's all-time leading scorer, not a goaltender, John Tavares. Last night, was Sullivan's 44th consecutive game played with the Swarm which is now a Swarm record breaking the 43 set by Riley Kemp last year. The Shamrox did get a late goal by Kevin Fines before the half but the Swarm were comfortably ahead 8-2 as the fans settled in to watch the halftime festivities.

The problem for the Swarm lately has been that you can not play a first half every half. During the three game losing streak, the Swarm outscored the opponents 18-12 in the first half. Not electrifying but it certainly is much better than the second halves when the Swarm were outscored 31-11. So when Shamrox young guns Cody Jacobs and Wasson cut the lead to 8-4 by mid way through the third quarter, one gets a small twinge of fear of what may be ahead. Last night though, Point eradicated those fears as he answered each of those two goals which two of his own to send the Swarm to the fourth quarter with a 10-4 lead.

Even though the Shamrox started fast in the fourth including a Bill McGlone goal on the opening face off and added another two after that, the Swarm still were able to keep a nice buffer between them and the Shamrox. Pollock put the Swarm up 11-7 as he got one by Roik on the crease. Jonas Derks cut the lead to three again but Point scored his team leading fourth goal of the night to effectively end the Shamrox chances of a comeback. Mat Giles got a late goal with the extra attacker to make it 13-9 but the extra attacker bit the Shamrox in the end as Eric Pacey (1g 4a) ended the night's scoring with his first goal of the season on an empty netter.

The Swarm were lead by Point with four goals and two assists and Secore with two and two. This year when these two guys are on their game or even in the game, the Swarm are nearly unstoppable and even in the first Buffalo game, they nearly helped pull that one out. Biers made a fantastic return to the floor with a goal and two assists. He was a bit tired he said after the game but he had on quite a grin saying that. Pollock recorded his 200th loose ball with the Swarm while Sharp got his 100th with the team. Patterson had yet another great game with 29 saves on 38 shots. The Swarm transition game returned from an one month vacation with four goals. The Shamrox were led by Derks who had two goals and three assists. Roik, who the Shamrox got in a trade from Philadelphia two weeks ago, not only made his Shamrox debut but also his season debut with a stellar 47 saves on 59 shots.

The playoff races is heating up. With the victory, the Swarm are now in second place a half game ahead of Buffalo (7-4), who holds the tiebreaker against us. We are now a game behind Philadelphia (7-1) who rallied in the fourth quarter to beat San Jose (5-4), 16-13, last night. Tomorrow, the NLL will hold their All-Star game in Edmonton with Ryan Ward (20g 27a), Cousins, Patterson and Secore representing the Swarm even though Secore will not play in the game.

The Swarm have next week off but on Saturday, March 29 they will travel to the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois to take on these same Shamrox at 7:00 pm CDT. Before that game, the Shamrox will travel to Rochester (4-4) to play the Knighthawks on Saturday, March 22 at 6:35 pm CDT before the can exact revenge (not likely) on the Minnesota Swarm.

Game Notes

Pointstreak Swarm Notes Shamrox Notes

Team Stats Sv/S PIM PP SH S SOG LB FO
Minnesota 29/38 19 3/7 2 78 60 72 13/26
Chicago 47/60 19 3/7 0 56 38 55 13/26

# Minnesota G A Pts PIM PPG SHG S SOG LB FO
8 Rory McDade 0 2 2 0 0 0 3 2 0 0-0
9 Craig Point 4 2 6 2 1 0 15 12 4 1-1
11 Keith Cromwell 0 1 1 0 0 0 6 5 0 0-0
12 Eric Pacey 1 0 1 2 0 0 3 3 5 0-0
16 Noah Talbot 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0-0
17 Sean Pollock 1 2 3 0 1 0 11 10 6 0-0
18 Andrew Biers 1 2 3 0 0 0 1 1 5 0-1
19 Chad Culp 0 1 1 0 0 0 5 3 9 0-0
20 Kyle Ross 1 1 2 5 0 0 2 2 5 0-0
21 Andy Secore 2 2 4 0 1 0 13 9 5 0-0
23 Jon Sullivan 1 1 2 0 0 1 1 1 2 0-0
26 Ryan Sharp 1 0 1 2 0 1 1 1 4 0-0
27 Colin Achenbach 0 0 0 6 0 0 2 2 2 0-0
44 Ryan Ward 0 2 2 0 0 0 11 6 3 0-0
47 Travis Hill 1 2 3 0 0 0 4 3 16 12-24
50 Ryan Cousins 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0-0
93 Nick Patterson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-0
31 Kevin Croswell Back Up Goaltender - Did Not Play
3 Chris Courtney Did Not Dress
24 Justin Norbraten Did Not Dress
34 Nick Inch Did Not Dress
40 Ian Rubel Did Not Dress
73 Dean Hill Did Not Dress
 
# Minnesota MIN GA Saves Shots Dec  
31 Kevin Croswell 0:00 0 0 0    
93 Nick Patterson 60:00 9 29 38 W 7-3  
 
# Chicago G A Pts PIM PPG SHG S SOG LB FO
4 Carter Livingstone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0-0
6 Scott Self 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 1-2
13 Jason Clark 0 2 2 0 0 0 5 4 3 0-0
17 Kevin Fines 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 1 5 3-8
18 Josh Wasson 2 2 4 2 1 0 3 3 9 8-12
23 Callum Crawford 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 2 0-0
24 Brock Boyle 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0-0
25 Drew Candy 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 5 0-0
26 Mike Kirk 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0-0
27 Mat Giles 1 2 3 2 0 0 8 7 2 1-4
33 Bill McGlone 1 1 2 0 0 0 6 3 2 0-0
35 Matt Roik 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-0
42 Jonas Derks 2 3 5 2 0 0 8 5 1 0-0
44 Bobby McBride 0 1 1 0 0 0 5 2 7 0-0
63 Thomas Montour 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 8 0-0
71 Kevin Ross 0 2 2 2 0 0 5 4 1 0-0
88 Cody Jacobs 2 1 3 0 1 0 5 4 1 0-0
43 Derek Collins Back Up Goaltender - Did Not Play
9 Bryan Kazarian Did Not Dress
11 Mike Hobbins Did Not Dress
19 Darryl Gibson Did Not Dress
37 Andrew Burkholder Did Not Dress
55 Chris Panos Did Not Dress
 
# Chicago MIN GA Saves Shots Dec
35 Matt Roik 59:58 12 47 59 L 0-1  
43 Derek Collins 0:00 0 0 0    
Empty Net 0:02 1 0 1    

Scoring
Time MN CHI Team Goal 1st Assist 2nd Assist Notes
First Quarter
1:50 1 0 Minnesota Andy Secore Keith Cromwell Travis Hill  
6:35 2 0 Minnesota Andrew Biers Kyle Ross    
7:47 3 0 Minnesota Craig Point Sean Pollock    
8:49 4 0 Minnesota Kyle Ross Andy Secore Craig Point  
8:59 5 0 Minnesota Ryan Sharp     SH
Second Quarter
1:53 6 0 Minnesota Travis Hill Andrew Biers    
4:47 7 0 Minnesota Andy Secore Sean Pollock Travis Hill PP
12:08 7 1 Chicago Josh Wasson Jonas Derks Mat Giles PP
14:09 8 1 Minnesota Jon Sullivan Andrew Biers   SH
14:33 8 2 Chicago Kevin Fines Brock Boyle   PP
Third Quarter
2:57 8 3 Chicago Cody Jacobs Jason Clark Bobby McBride  
7:36 8 4 Chicago Josh Wasson Jonas Derks Cody Jacobs  
9:11 9 4 Minnesota Craig Point Ryan Ward Andy Secore PP
10:16 10 4 Minnesota Craig Point Rory McDade Jon Sullivan GWG
Fourth Quarter
0:11 10 5 Chicago Bill McGlone Josh Wasson    
3:27 10 6 Chicago Cody Jacobs Josh Wasson Jonas Derks PP
4:12 10 7 Chicago Jonas Derks Kevin Ross Bill McGlone  
9:16 11 7 Minnesota Sean Pollock Craig Point Ryan Ward PP
10:16 11 8 Chicago Jonas Derks Mat Giles Thomas Montour  
11:19 12 8 Minnesota Craig Point Chad Culp Rory McDade  
13:42 12 9 Chicago Mat Giles Jason Clark Kevin Ross EA
14:41 13 9 Minnesota Eric Pacey     EN

Penalties
Time Team Player Penalty Bench Duration
First Quarter
3:56 Minnesota Colin Achenbach Delay of Game   2:00
8:49 Minnesota Ryan Cousins Unsportsmanlike Conduct   2:00
8:49 Minnesota Kyle Ross Fighting   5:00
8:49 Chicago Drew Candy Fighting   5:00
13:28 Chicago Kevin Ross Illegal Substitution X 2:00
Second Quarter
2:35 Minnesota Colin Achenbach Holding   2:00
4:21 Chicago Mat Giles Interference   2:00
11:10 Minnesota Craig Point Delay of Game   2:00
12:38 Minnesota Eric Pacey Holding   2:00
Third Quarter
0:00 Chicago Kevin Ross Unsportsmanlike Conduct X 2:00
7:50 Chicago Kevin Ross Delay of Game   2:00
Fourth Quarter
1:06 Chicago Thomas Montour Holding   2:00
3:04 Minnesota Colin Achenbach Delay of Game   2:00
5:44 Minnesota Ryan Sharp Illegal Cross Checking   2:00
6:37 Chicago Josh Wasson Goalie Interference   2:00
8:52 Chicago Jonas Derks Checking from Behind   2:00

Referees
Crew Chief Assistant Referee Technical Referee
16-Tom Sutton 60-John Bistowski 73-Daren Yates