Minnesota Swarm (7-4 H 4-0 A 3-4)

vs
New York Titans (6-5 H 2-1 A 4-4)

The Don Ho Edition of Minnesota Swarm Lacrosse

Saturday, April 5, 2008 - 7:00pm CDT/ 2:00 pm HDT
Xcel Energy Center
St. Paul, Minnesota

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. Titans History:

Nick Patterson (7-3 12.18 GAA .769 Save %) shut out the Titans for the first two and half quarters while the Swarm offense scored twelve goals during that time. The Swarm eventually won, 16-9, behind three goals each from Ryan Ward (22g 28a) and former Swarm Mike Hominuck. The twelve unanswered goals were the most the Swarm scored to start a game.

Rosters:

Regular Season Statistics:

2008 NLL Standings

Former Titans With The Swarm:

Former Swarm With The Titans:

• Anthony Kelly (0g 0a 7/13 on face offs) (Practice Squad 2006)
• Adam Mueller (Swarm Head Coach 2006)
• Paul Stewart (Director of Scouting 2006)

Minnesota Swarm Promotions:

• Hawaiian Night
• The first 10,000 fans get a Swarm Lei
• The first 5,000 fans get a Nick Patterson magnet

Jon Sullivan - Consecutive Game Streak - 45

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

The Swarm enter this game having lost four of their last five with all those four losses on the road. Last weekend, the Swarm gave up a 5-1 lead after one quarter to the Chicago Shamrox, who eventually won 15-10. Andy Secore (20g 32a) led the Swarm with two goals and five assists.

The Titans enter this game having won five of their last six games. Their last victory was against Philadelphia where they scored a franchise record twenty goals on their way to a 20-13 win in Trenton, New Jersey on March 22. This was their first victory over Philadelphia after losing their first four games against them.

The Swarm will need a better performance offensively to keep up with the Titans especially on the left side of the offense. Secore is the only exception to that rule. Since he came back from missing two games due to injury, Secore has scored four goals and seven assists. Keith Cromwell (3g 7a) has scored all his goals on the power play this year. We need him to produce more in five on five situations. After scoring at least one goal in each of the first nine games, Chad Culp (16g 20a) has been held without a goal in the last two games. With Dean Hill (9g 10a) out due to respiratory problems for possibly the forseeable future, Rory McDade (2g 4a) will need to find a way to take more than the 2.5 shots per game he has this season to fill the void.

The Swarm will also need to see the return of Ryan Sharp (7g 6a) and Kyle Ross (3g 6a) to rejuvenate the Swarm's transition game. Without those two last weekend, the Swarm were unable to take advantage of any 2 on 1 or 3 on 2 opportunities they had. Also, their size and speed can help negate the Titans transition game.

Ryan Boyle (13g 31a) has finally found the back of the net this season for the Titans. He has scored four goals in each of the last two games including the game winner against Toronto on March 14. Casey Powell (25 38a) is again amongst the league leaders in points and Mike McLellan (21g 20a) leads the league in power play goals with 13. Jarett Park (4g 2a 112 LB) earned his first NLL All-Star appearance this year for being a loose ball machine (4th in the league) and Mitch Belisle (2g 1a) and John Orsen (3g 6a) join him to form an much improved and young defensive unit in New York. Matt Vinc (5-4 12.34 GAA .765 Save %) is Patterson's rival for the best young goaltender in the league. Vinc has been solid this year as he, like Patterson, has assumed the number one role for the Titans this year.

For the game in Philadelphia, I previewed the rookie of the year battle between the Swarm's Craig Point (22g 27a) and the Wings Merrick Thomson. Point is still on pace but Thomson has fallen off the pace to be replaced by the Titans' Jordan Hall (19g 32a), who was the first overall pick in the 2007 Entry Draft. Hall is a transition player who can do it all in the style of Mark Steenhuis. He maybe used more on offense than planned but he has been more than capable. Right now, these two are battling for rookie honors and it could come down to whose team makes the playoffs or not to determine the winner. Here is a bit of side by side comparison between the two young guns:

Rookie of the Year Battle - Craig Point vs. Jordan Hall