Minnesota Swarm (9-4 H 6-0 A 3-4)

vs.
Rochester Knighthawks (7-7 H 4-4 A 3-3)

The Disco Fever Edition of Minnesota Swarm Lacrosse

Saturday, April 19, 2008 - 7:00pm CST
Xcel Energy Center
St. Paul, Minnesota

Live Statistics

Minnesota Swarm Game Center

TV/Internet/Radio Coverage:

Radio: WYSL 1040 AM
Webcast: B2 Networks $7.00 per game

More Coverage of this game at:

Swarm v. Knighthawks History:

Sean Pollock (20g 29a) scored the game winner at the 6:30 mark of overtime to beat the Knighthawks 18-17 in Rochester on January 26. This was the first Swarm victory in Rochester since 2005. During that time, the Knighthawks won three straight in Rochester over Minnesota. The last time Rochester came to Minnesota, which was January 19, 2007, the Swarm won 11-10 on a Scott Stewart goal. That was the last loss for Rochester in 2007.

Rosters:

Regular Season Statistics:

2008 NLL Standings

Former Knighthawks With The Swarm:

• Duane Jacobs

Former Swarm With The Knighthawks:

Minnesota Swarm Promotions:

• 70's Night
• The first 5,000 fans get Swarm beads

Jon Sullivan - Consecutive Game Streak - 47

The Minnesota Swarm have won two in a row with the latest win last Saturday at home against the Philadelphia Wings (9-5). Pollock scored the game winning goal 1:19 into overtime to deliver victory to the Swarm faithful by a score of 15-14. The Swarm are now 6-0 at home.

The Rochester Knighthawks have also won two in a row. Last Saturday, they hosted their Western New York rivals, the Buffalo Bandits (8-6) and dominated them 11-6 to win the season series 2-1.

In the earlier meeting this year between these two teams, the Swarm entered the second half up 12-5 over the Knighthawks. By the end of the third period, the Knighthawks had cut the lead to one goal. The same happened last week as the Swarm entered the second half up 10-3 but only had a one goal lead after the third against the Wings. And we still won those games just barely, but many other times this season, the third quarter inadequacy has been large enough to offset all the good the Swarm have done in the other three quarters. First off, the Swarm have been doubled up in the third this season by a score of 54-26 and have only outscored the opponent in that quarter three times. Just against Rochester in their four years, the Knighthawks have outscored the Swarm 34-12 in the third and even without the game in January, the Knighthawks still hold a 25-9 advantage.

I think the team really gets juiced up pretty good in the first half, like one does drinking Red Bull, but at halftime the team rests and just like after the high from Red Bull wears off, the juice they had in the first wears off also. It makes them drag for most of the third and nearly takes a quarter if not longer to recover from. I would think it may just be trying to keep on an even keel throughout the game but if you're up 7 or 9 goals by half, I can't blame anybody for not feeling a bit overconfident. The Swarm are near the precipice with the third quarter performance and I fear it may be the team's undoing later this season.

Since coming back from injury to play against Chicago on March 14, Andy Secore (24g 41a) has scored eight goals and sixteen assists as the Swarm have won three of four. RyanWard (28g 34a) is four goals shy of tying and five in breaking Dean Hill's (9g 10a) record of 32 he set last year. Pollock has scored four game winning goals this year and a Swarm career record six, including game winners in the last two games. Rory McDade's (3g 8a) three goals this season are a career high. Jon Sullivan (2g 6a) took his first ever face off last week and Ryan Cousins (7g 5a) took his first face off since March 17, 2006 in Portland. Nick Patterson (9-3 12.05 .766 Save %) leads all NLL goaltenders in wins with nine and saves with 498. Both Colin Achenbach (1g 0a), who will be playing for the Six Nations Chiefs in the OLA this summer, and Nick Inch (0g 1a) are 4-1 in games they have played. Both Travis Hill (2g 9a) and Ryan Sharp (8g 9a) each have four ten-minute misconduct penalties this year.

John Grant (43g 43a) leads a very potent offense to the X this weekend. In last weekend's game in Buffalo, Grant led the Knighthawks with three goals and four assists. Shawn Williams (22g 45a) is having yet another solid season on the left side with Grant and this year Scott Evans (38g 27a) is having a career year as he emerges as an offensive force in the league. Steve Toll (6g 20a) is in the top five in loose balls in the league with 151 and his speed can be deadly on transition. As always in goal for Rochester, Pat O'Toole (7-5 10.68 GAA .776 Save %) is having another fine season. He has held the Swarm to under ten goals four times in his career and has never given up more than twelve in a game but in the game earlier this year he was pulled with just under five minutes left in the first half after giving up twelve goals.

Rochester is fighting for their playoff lifes. They are the defending champions and have never missed the playoffs in their thirteen years of play. This is a veteran team that has always been judged for being over the hill but always seem to be able to stay on top of it. Minnesota has improved in each of their four seasons. From five wins in 2005, to eight in 2006, to nine last year, the Swarm can better that with a win on Saturday to clinch a playoff spot and possible home playoff game. The last two years have been about fighting to get into the playoffs. This year it is about winning the division and the cup. In a game that should once again go down to the end, the Swarm have been more clutch this year than the Knighthawks and that should continue Saturday night.

Prediction: Minnesota Swarm 12 Rochester Knighthawks 11