Minnesota Swarm (3-0 H 1-0 A 2-0)

at
San Jose Stealth (1-2 H 0-1 A 1-1)

The Bring Back the Ninja Logo Edition of Minnesota Swarm Lacrosse

Saturday, February 2, 2008 - 9:30pm CST
HP Pavilion
San Jose, California

Live Statistics

Minnesota Swarm Game Center

TV/Internet/Radio Coverage:
Television:
Dish Network Ch. 419 Fox SportsNet Bay Area Live!!!
DirectTV Channel 654 Fox SportsNet Bay Area Live!!!

Webcast: B2 Networks $7.00 per game

More Coverage of this game at:

Swarm v. Stealth History:

This will be the first game between the two teams since April 9, 2006. In St. Paul that day, Jamie Taylor scored the winning goal in overtime to give the Swarm a 9-8 victory. The Swarm's Dean Hill (6g 5a) made his NLL and Swarm debut that day with four goals. The only game between the two teams in San Jose was on January 22, 2005, when the Swarm came back from an early 3-0 deficit to win 9-8 on a game winning goal from Kerry Susheski.

Rosters:

Regular Season Statistics:

2008 NLL Standings

Former Stealth With The Swarm:

• Andrew Biers
• Darren Halls

Former Swarm With The Stealth:

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

The Minnesota Swarm will arrive in San Jose in the midst of their best ever start in team history at 3-0. Last Saturday night, the Swarm went to Rochester and beat the defending NLL Champion Knighthawks 18-17 in overtime. Sean Pollock (5g 7a) scored the goal to tie it at seventeen which stayed that way until the end regulation. Mr. Pollock was not done finishing off the Knighthawks as he scored the game winner at 6:30 into overtime.

The San Jose Stealth were not so fortunate last weekend as they lost both of their games.  On Friday, they lost their home opener to the Calgary Roughnecks, 16-13. The following night they traveled to Denver to play the Colorado Mammoth and were shut down offensively, 11-6. Before the Stealth host the Swarm, they travel to New York to face the Titans on Thursday, January 31st.

The Swarm have had few problems putting the ball in the net.  With 15 1/3 goals per game, the Swarm are second in the league to the Philadelphia Wings' 16 1/3 average. Rookie, but not playing like one, Craig Point (6g 8a) continues to impress after achieving his first NLL hat trick last Saturday against Rochester. One player who picked up his game against Rochester was Mike Hominuck (2g 5a) who got his first two goals of the season and assisted on Pollock's game winner. The Swarm have been making their shots count as they have the best shooting percentage in the league at .211 and the best Shots on Goal percentage of .752 in the NLL.

The Stealth defense is led by Eric Martin (1g 1a) who is tied for ninth in loose balls in the league with 31. Shaydon Santos {7 lb) has been the Stealth captain for the last three years after spending the 2005 season as an assistant head coach for the team.

The Swarm defense will face another potentially explosive offense in San Jose. 2005 NLL MVP Colin Doyle (4g 9a) directs the offense. He is known for coming up clutch with seven game winning goals since 2005. When he was in Toronto before being acquired prior to the 2007 season, Doyle was merciless against the Swarm scoring 13 goals and assisting on 16 in four games. Jeff Zywicki (9g 9a) is the Stealth's leading scorer and like D. Hill is deadly on the crease. Luke Wiles (5g 9a) led the Stealth in scoring last year with 82 points in his second sesaon in the NLL. Gary Rosyski (4g 5a) has been in San Jose since 2004 like Santos and last year he improved his point production from 43 to 76.

Travis Hill (1g 14/26 FO) will return to the line up for the Swarm after serving an one game suspension in Rochester for his actions in Toronto on January 11th. Darren Halls (11/26 FO) returns to San Jose where he spent last year scoring two goals and four assists. Halls stepped up on face offs in Rochester winning 10 of 21. Ryan Cousins (3g 1a) and Ryan Sharp (4g 1a) have been electric on transition with both averaging over a goal a game. Both provide much flexibilty on both sides of the ball. They can take on the opponents best defenders and then can immediately join the offense. They are the future of this league as teams are looking for more players that can handle and accept the challenge to work both sides of the ball. Kyle Ross (3a) is exceeding expectations as he finally has earned the right to be in the every game line up. He is an emerging transition star in line with Cousins and Sharp. He can often be seen joining breakaways and he has a long reach which has frustrated opponents.

Nick Patterson (3-0 11.84 GAA .764 Save %) stepped up last weekend. The Knighthawks made a third quarter run that could have doomed this team just last year, but Patterson regained the edge in the fourth quarter and in overtime as he helped turn the tide back to the Swarm's favor. Clutch play late like that shows how well Patterson has taken to being the #1 goaltender. His opposite number in goal for San Jose is Anthony Cosmo (1-2 12.55 GAA .774 Save %), who was the First Team All-NLL goaltender last year. In the two years before 2007, Cosmo was really all the Stealth had and kept them in most games. Now with the weapons on offense, the pressure isn't as intense for him and his game has excelled even more.

The Swarm love playing on the coast of the Pacific Ocean where they are 4-0. A nice west coast excursion should be a good bonding experience for Minnesota before they return home. Offense, defense, goaltending, transition are all working to the highest degree for the Swarm. The same can not be said for the Stealth. Keeping Doyle in check will be a high priority and keeping to the team game should see the Swarm climb to 4-0

Prediction - Minnesota 13 San Jose 11

Minnesota will finally return home for a first ever two game home weekend stand at the Xcel Energy Center. It begins on Friday, February 8th against the New York Titans at 7:00 pm CST. The Swarmtacular weekend continues on Sunday, February 10th when Michael Kilby, Spencer Martin and Scott Stewart return to Minnesota as members of the Portland LumberJax. The afternoon matinee begins at 3:00 pm CST. The Stealth's continue their homestand on Saturday, February 9th against the Chicago Shamrox at 3:00 pm CST.