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

vs
Toronto Rock (1-0 H 0-0 A 1-0)

The Defend Your Turf Edition of Minnesota Swarm Lacrosse

Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 7:00pm CST
Xcel Energy Center
St. Paul, Minnesota

Live Statistics

TV/Internet/Radio Coverage: None

Webcast: B2 Networks $7.00 per game

More Coverage of this game at:

Swarm v. Rock History:

This the second game of a home and home series that will start the night before in Toronto. The Swarm's only victory at home against the Rock was on April 1, 2006. That game saw the Swarm come back from a 9-2 defecit in the third quarter and win it 10-9 on a goal by Mark Miyashita.

Rosters:

Regular Season Statistics:

2008 NLL Standings

Former Rock With The Swarm:

• Eric Pacey

Former Swarm With The Rock:

• Kasey Beirnes
• Scott Campbell
• Jon Harasym
• Jamie Taylor

Minnesota Swarm Promotions:

• The first 10,000 fans get a Swarm poster

The Minnesota Swarm have not fared well in home openers. In their first three years, the Swarm have lost all three home openers. The Swarm have struggled at home in the month of January going 1-6 in their history. Their only home victory in January was against Rochester on January 19, 2007 by a score of 11-10. That win was also the last time the Knighthawks lost. Since then, Rochester has won fifteen straight and became NLL champions.

Minnesota's offense is very deep and should entertain their fans throughout the season. Like Josh Sanderson of Toronto, the Swarm's Ryan Ward (23g 52a) sets the table. Either side of the floor he comes down, he will have options away from and near the crease. The guys who crank it up from outside will be Mike Hominuck (18g 34a), Chad Culp (13g 24a) and rookie Craig Point, who scored four goals against Toronto in exhibition game on December 15, 2007. Down low, Sean Pollock (26g 41a) and Dean Hill (32g 21a) will attack the net.

Minnesota Swarm Head Coach Duane Jacobs likes players who can play defense and then sprint out on transition to score. The Swarm's best transition threat is Ryan Sharp (3g 8a), a 2006 All-Star with Portland. Acquired midway through last season, Sharp took a while to make the adjustment, but this year, many expect him to look more like he did in 2006 than 2007. The Swarm will try to grow two rookies into transition threats. The first player is Justin Norbraten, who is the Swarm's first round draft pick in 2007 and Colin Achenbach, who the Swarm signed as free agent this year out of Burnsville, Minnesota. All three are fleet of foot, have good stick skills and Norbraten also has the ability to take face offs.

The Toronto Rock defense has invested in new leadership for the future. Jim Veltman (1a) is the NLL All-Time leader in loose balls with 2,629. He has won eight NLL championships (3 in Buffalo, 5 in Toronto) and has been the leader of the Rock since their inception in 1998. He will be retiring after this season; however, the Rock have acquired two players who were captains with their last teams to try to emulate him. The first player is Cam Woods (1g) who was acquired in a trade from Chicago and was the Co-NLL Defensive Player of Year in 2004. The second player is Peter Lough (1a), signed as an unrestricted free agent from Arizona, who has excelled as a face off specialist.

The Rock have one of the best goaltenders in the league in Bob Watson, who along with Veltman, has been with the Rock since their inception. He has started every game for the Rock against the Swarm and been a stone wall giving up only 10.06 goals per game in six games.

The Swarm's younger legs should carry them through to victory in front of the hometown fans. This is the year the Swarm start off with a victory at home.

Prediction - Minnesota 12 Toronto 11

After this weekend, the Swarm embark on a two game road trip beginning in Rochester. They will play the NLL defending champion Knighthawks on Saturday, January 26th at 7:05 pm CST. The Swarm will return home on Friday, February 8th to host the New York Titans at the Xcel Energy Center with the game starting at 7:00 pm CST.