Minnesota Swarm (2-0 H 1-0 A 1-0)

at
Rochester Knighthawks (1-2 H 0-1 A 1-1)

The Battle of Pattys Edition of Minnesota Swarm Lacrosse

Saturday, January 26, 2008 - 7:05pm CST
Blue Cross Arena
Rochester, New York

Live Statistics

Minnesota Swarm Game Center

TV/Internet/Radio Coverage:

Radio: Listen Live and Free at WYSL 1040 AM
Webcast: B2 Networks $7.00 per game

More Coverage of this game at:

Swarm v. Knighthawks History:

The two teams split last year. The Swarm handed the Knighthawks their last lost of the 2007 season on January 19, 2007 at the Xcel Energy Center by a score of 11-10. The game winner was notched by Scott Stewart. The Knighthawks got the best of the Swarm later in the season Rochester on April 7, 2007 by a score of 19-9.

Rosters:

Regular Season Statistics:

2008 NLL Standings

Former Knighthawks With The Swarm:

• Duane Jacobs

Former Swarm With The Knighthawks:

The Minnesota Swarm will arrive in Rochester with an undefeated record after sweeping the Toronto Rock in a home and home series on January 11 in Toronto (17-16 OT) and January 12 in St. Paul (11-4). The defending NLL Champion Knighthawks have lost two straight games after suffering a 15-14 defeat to the Philadelphia Wings on Friday, January 18th.

The Knighthawks' John Grant (9g 8a) was the 2007 NLL Most Valuable Player of the Year in leading Rochester to the championship. The lefthander has an unique plethora of angles he uses to put shots on net and seems to perform even better when defenses get physical with him. Grant will most likely get his hat trick and three assists against the Swarm like he does against every team. Minnesota is not just going to give Grant a free pass (look for Eric Pacey (1a) to be on him), but I think the Swarm believe that if they focus more defensively on the supporting cast, the better their chances to come out on top. That means the Swarm will have to keep Shawn Williams (5g 12a) from getting loose alongside Grant on the left side. The Swarm will also have to keep their composure on defense when battling the Evans' brothers (Scott 6g 5a) and (Shawn 4g 6a). Both brothers like to take chances with their phsyical play by trying to get opponents to instigate fights and then also tend to exaggerate the force of their opponents contact when an opponent makes contact with them to draw penalties (aka diving).

Minnesota Swarm defenseman Travis Hill (1g) has been suspended for one game by the NLL for his high hit on Toronto defenseman Jim Veltman in Toronto on January 11th. T. Hill will be replaced by either Nick Inch or Chris Courtney (1g), who both made their Swarm and NLL debuts in that game in Toronto.

The Knighthawks seemed to be exposed by the speed of Philadelphia on Friday night. Minnesota has speed in abundance as well, especially in their transition game led by Ryan Sharp (2g 1a) and Kyle Ross (2a). Even with Steve Toll (4a), considered one of the fastest players in the league, the Knighthawks were constantly on their heels against and passed by the Wings. So look for the Swarm to play at a very high tempo.

Minnesota should bring all their big guns on offense against the Knighthawks after having a weekend off. Andy Secore (3g 8a) has gotten half as many points in two games with the Swarm as he got in fourteen games last year when he was a member of the Arizona Sting (10g 12a). Secore has fit in well in the Swarm offense bridging the gap between the players up top like Ryan Ward (8g 3a) and Mike Hominuck (3a) and the players roaming the crease like Dean Hill (4g 3a) and Craig Point (3g 7a) who was named the NLL Rookie of the Week for last weekend's performance against Toronto. The Knighthawk defense is very experienced with captain Regy Thorpe (1a) who has been a Knighthawk since the team started in 1995. Chris Schiller (1a) is a threat along with Toll on breakaways. Scott Ditzell (2a) and Jack Reid are big and physical players who like to impose their will.

Mark Miyashita (7 of 14) should be handling most of the draws for Minnesota against the Knighthawks' Stephen Hoar (43 of 80).

Nick Patterson (2-0 9.88 GAA .802 Save %) had his first two-win weekend in his career in the home and home series against Toronto. His performance included giving up a team low four goals against Toronto on January 12th. The whole weekend earned him NLL Defensive Player of the Week honors last week. His counterpart in net for Rochester is Pat O'Toole (1-2 12.36 GAA .770 save %) , a fourteen year veteran and the starter in Rochester since 1999. The Swarm will have to be wary of O'Toole because he may be the best in the league with outlet passes.

The Knighthawks had a sixteen game winning streak going into their first home game on January 12th against the Buffalo Bandits. That night they raised their 2007 NLL Championship banner but lost to their I-90 rivals, 14-9. With a two game losing streak and the bitter home loss, expect the Knighthawks to come out very spirited. The Swarm will have two weeks to prepare the Knighthawks and their self-confidence is extremely high. They have lost three in a row in Rochester but this upcoming weekend should see the end of that dubious streak. As mentioned earlier, look for the Swarm to outhustle the Knighthawks and contain Grant's supporting cast.

Prediction - Minnesota 12 Rochester 11

The game in Rochester is the first of a two game road trip for Minnesota. The second game of the road trip will be in San Jose against the Stealth on Saturday, February 2nd, 2008. The game begins at 9:30 pm CST at the HP Pavilion. Rochester will have the week off following the game against the Swarm. Their next game will be at home against the Toronto Rock on Saturday, February 9th. That game begins at 6:35 pm CST at the Blue Cross Arena.