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Minnesota Swarm Claim Second Win in a Row

April 3, 2015 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Minnesota Swarm News Release


Minnesota Swarm Celebrate vs. New England Black Wolves
Minnesota Swarm Celebrate vs. New England Black Wolves
(Minnesota Swarm, Credit: Scott Pierson)

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - In front of an energetic crowd Friday night, the Minnesota Swarm (5-8) claimed the regular season series (3-to-1) against the New England Black Wolves (3-8) with a 12-8 win on Ho-Chunk Nation Field at Xcel Energy Center. Newcomers F Johnny Powless (1g, 2a) and T Joel White (1g, 1a) made impacts for the Swarm from the get-go as both scored a goal to help fuel the Swarm's second consecutive win.

"They were awesome," said White in regards to the Swarm's fans. "I was having a conversation with someone earlier today about how I loved coming here to play... It's a great fan base and to continue to come here for the next four to five weeks is going to be awesome."

The Swarm's all-time scoring leader, F Callum Crawford (3g, 4a) got the Swarm on the scoreboard first and T Jordan MacIntosh (1g, 2a) scored shortly after to give Minnesota an early two-goal lead. New England fought back, but so did Minnesota with back-and-forth goals all throughout the first half. The Swarm was able to go into the halftime break with a 5-3 lead.

The Black Wolves got off to a hot start in the second half, tying the game at five early in the third. Crawford then pulled the Swarm out of the tie as he scored his second goal of the game and would follow with his third immediately after to give Minnesota a 7-5 lead late in the third quarter. The Swarm never looked back from that point and went on to outscore the Black Wolves 4-2 in the final quarter. Afterward, Coach Sullivan was pleased with his team's effort out of the floor, and noticed a different energy from his squad Friday evening.

"I would say definitely better energy, Sullivan said. "Joel White came in and it seemed like anything that hit the turf he picked up in his stick and cleared the ball safely and securely. Johnny Powless came in and really electrified our offense and didn't find the back of the net as much as he would have liked but I would tell you, he made other players better on the floor so it's a great feeling for him."

Minnesota also got great production from F Shayne Jackson (1g, 4a) and Corbyn Tao (3g) who notched his first hat trick of the season. Goalie Zach Higgins made his second-straight start against New England and once again held the Black Wolves to under 10 goals. This time around, Higgins made 36 saves on 44 shots.

"When Higgins plays like that, we win lacrosse games," Crawford said. "... If you have a really good goaltender, it gives you an opportunity to win every night and that's what Higgins is giving to us."

Brett Bucktooth (3g, 2a) led the Black Wolves with three goals and Pat Saunders (2g, 4a) registered a team-high six points. Goaltender Evan Kirk made 38 saves on the night but it wasn't enough to stop the Swarm's scoring power.

Minnesota will head to Rochester tomorrow to take on the Knighthawks (8-4) and hopefully end the weekend with two wins. Faceoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT tomorrow night and fans can watch the game on NLL Live by visiting live.nll.com (U.S.) and TSNGo (Canada).

"We just need to worry about what we can control and that's winning every game we play to give ourselves a chance to get back in the playoffs," Crawford said. "We can't rely on other teams. At the end of the season, if we win out and we do what we have to do, we're confident that will be good enough to get us in. That's all we're focused on."

The Swarm will return to The Hive on Saturday, April 11 to take on the Buffalo Bandits for their annual doubleheader with the Minnesota RollerGirls at 7 p.m. CT. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-888-MN-SWARM or visit www.mnswarm.com for purchasing information.




Images from this story

Minnesota Swarm Celebrate vs. New England Black Wolves
Minnesota Swarm Celebrate vs. New England Black Wolves
(Scott Pierson)		   



National Lacrosse League Stories from April 3, 2015


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