Minnesota Swarm (6-0 H 3-0 A 3-0)

at
Buffalo Bandits (3-3 H 1-1 A 2-2)

The Will the Swarm Roll a Seven or Snake Eyes Edition of Minnesota Swarm Lacrosse

Saturday, February 16, 2008 - 6:30 pm CST
HSBC Arena
Buffalo, New York

Live Statistics

Minnesota Swarm Game Center

TV/Internet/Radio Coverage: None

Webcast: B2 Networks $7.00 per game

More Coverage of this game at:

Swarm v. Bandits History:

The Swarm and Bandits met in the playoffs for the second year in a row last year in Buffalo. The Bandits won the first round match on April 23, 14-8, after being down 8-7 after the first half. It is the second straight season the Bandits have ended the Swarm�s playoff run. The Bandits have won four straight in the series between the two teams including 2007 regular season victories by the score of 22-13 in Buffalo and 16-15 in St. Paul.

Rosters:

Regular Season Statistics:

2008 NLL Standings

Former Bandits With The Swarm:

• Mike Hominuck
• Duane Jacobs
• Marty O'Neill

Former Swarm With The Bandits:

• Craig Conn

Dean Hill v. Craig Point - Who's winning the side bet?

The Minnesota Swarm had a very successful past weekend at the Xcel Energy Center. First, they dispatched the New York Titans (2-4) last Friday night, 16-9 after building the largest lead to start a game in NLL (12-0). The Swarm finished the weekend home sweep on Sunday afternoon as Ryan Cousins got his second overtime game winner this season to keep the Swarm undefeated with a 14-13 victory over the Portland LumberJax (1-5).

The Buffalo Bandits were in the road trip meatgrinder this past weekend and emerged with a split. Last Friday, the Bandits traveled to Calgary to face the Roughnecks (2-3) and thoroughly dispatched them 17-9. They then traveled from the mountains of Calgary to the skyscrapers of the NYC for a Sunday matinee with the Titans. The matinee turned macabre as the Bandits were beaten by the Titans for the first time in their history,10-9, in overtime.

The Swarm start their longest road trip of the year, three games, this weekend against their arch nemesis, the Buffalo Bandits. The offense continues to produce as Andy Secore (14g 21a), Craig Point (13g 20a) and Ryan Ward (16g 16a) are amongst the top seven in scoring in the National Lacrosse League. Secore, who's career single season high in points is 22, could very well double that this weekend in just seven games. He arguably has been the best pick up of anyone in the November dispersal draft of Sting/Blazer players, having outpointed first pick Dan Dawson (11g 12a) by 13 points in the same amount of games (6). One player that could use a big game is Dean Hill (7g 7a), who has only scored one goal and two assists in his last two games and was sat against Portland in favor of Rory McDade (1g 0a).

The Bandit defense performed well the past weekend against Calgary and New York who are filled with talented offensive players like Lewis Ratcliff (12g 18a) and Casey Powell (15g 17a). They always seem to rise to the occasion against the Swarm as the Swarm have only scored more than eleven goals in three of ten games against the Bandits. One player who definitely seems to have an axe to grind when Minnesota is on the docket is Kyle Laverty (1g 2a) who has accrued 29 PIM in eight regular season games. He has been involved in a fight in the last two regular season games involving these teams in Buffalo, first against Travis Hill (1g 3a) on March 4, 2006 and second against Michael Kilby on January 20, 2007. So if anyone may try to literally draw first blood against the Swarm, it may be Laverty.

John Tavares (11g 25a) never lets up and never seems to tire as he is second in the league in scoring. He has done well for the Bandits against the Swarm in his career with 25 goals and 41 assists in ten games. His worst game, point production wise, was on March 4, 2006, when he scored only two assists, even though one of them made him the all-time assist leader in NLL history. Coincidentally, that game was also the only time the Swarm have ever beat the Bandits. Since he has broken every record imaginable since, I doubt jitters about breaking another one will inhibit his performance. Dan Teat (5g 14a) has also done well against the Swarm scoring 19 goals and 22 assists. Kevin Dostie (16g 8a) might come in a small package (5' 6" 190 lbs.), but he leads the Bandits in goals scored.

Defensively, the Swarm did well last weekend in their sweep. Mark Miyashita (1g 3a) led the Swarm last weekend with 22 loose balls. Kyle Ross (2g 5a) has continued to be the most pleasant surprise on the team this year. He started the game winning breakaway goal against Portland with fantastic pressure on Ryan Powell to force the turnover. He leads the team in loose balls with 42 and has a point in 5 of 6 games.

Nick Patterson (6-0 11.32 GAA .779) will start in net this weekend for the Swarm. Patterson has struggled against the Bandits as a member of the Swarm going (0-3 17.80 GAA .671 Save %). He has started five against the Bandits, but has only finished two of the those games. Mike Thompson (3-1 11.98 .750 Save %) ascended to #1 status in Buffalo last season after Steve Dietrich got hurt and this year he is still proving his worth. He is 3-0 in three games against the Swarm with a 9.82 GAA and .786 Save %. He was in net in last season's playoff game where he shut out the Swarm in the second half.

While Minnesota is waiting to play Buffalo on Saturday, the Bandits will be in Toronto playing the Rock on Friday. With the Swarm well rested coming into this game and running on all cylinders, this is a prime opportunity to put the Bandits away, if only for a night. Patterson has been clutch the whole season and I think he will be the difference on Saturday as he helps deliver victory to the Swarm, notwithstanding his past performances against the Bandits.

Prediction: Minnesota Swarm 12 Buffalo Bandits 10

Next Games After This Match Up

• Minnesota at Philadelphia - Friday, February 22nd 7:00 pm CST
• Buffalo at Chicago - Sunday, February 24th 3:00 pm CST