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Arizona Finishes the Season 9-7, Will Open the Playoffs in Calgary Next Weekend

April 14, 2007 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Arizona Sting News Release


ST. PAUL, MN --- Xcel Energy Center was at the epicenter of intensity on Saturday night, as the Arizona Sting and Minnesota Swarm faced off in what proved to be an extremely entertaining contest that produced no shortage of fireworks, as the two teams combined for 31 goals in a back-and-forth affair that saw a multitude of lead changes and several dramatic swings in momentum. After 59+ minutes of lacrosse failed to produce a victor, the Swarm scored with less than a second remaining in regulation to pull out the dramatic one-goal victory over the Sting, ultimately ending Arizona's hopes of hosting a playoff game at Jobing.com Arena next weekend in doing so.

"This was a very disappointing loss," said Sting Head Coach/GM Bob Hamley following the disheartening defeat. "We wanted more than anything to open up the playoffs in our building. We let ourselves down and we let our fans down here tonight. Losing three in a row is obviously not how you'd like to end the regular season, but we know that we've got the talent and the drive to get on track in a hurry and hopefully make a run all the way to the Champion's Cup Final starting at the (Pengrowth) Saddledome next weekend."

Following the loss, Arizona still had a chance at finishing in second place in the NLL's West Division, but, an hour later, a 17-11 victory by Calgary over the Edmonton Rush at Rexall Place secured the Sting's third-place finish and meant an opening round match-up with their hated rivals - the Roughnecks.

"We're very familiar with Calgary, and we know that it'll be an exciting game up there next weekend," said defenseman Scott Self upon hearing the news of Calgary's win over Edmonton.

Saturday's contest opened favorably for Arizona, as Derek ‘Merlin' Malawsky gave the Sting a 1-0 lead 5:19 into the first quarter, beating Minnesota goalie Matt Disher with a well-placed shot to earn his 17th tally of the season. Craig Conn then found the back of the net thirty-six seconds later, putting the visitors up by two in the process. The Swarm responded shortly thereafter however, as Ryan Ward got the home team on the scoreboard with his 21st goal of the year. Craig Conn and Matt Brown then scored a quick pair of goals for the Sting to put the Valley of the Sun's up 4-1 as the first quarter came to an end.

Ryan Ward opened the second quarter with a goal 0:19 after the opening draw, cutting the Arizona lead to two in doing so. A bullet of a shot from three-point territory restored the three-goal Sting advantage 2:20 later, as Craig Conn put the finishing touches on his first hat trick of 2007. After a pair of tallies from Dean Hill and Ryan Cousins, former Sting forward Kasey Beirnes tied the match up 5-5 with a shot that beat Rob Blasdell over his left shoulder. Sean Pollock then gave Minnesota their first lead of the night at the 5:48 mark of the second period, burying his team-leading 26th goal on a low shot.

The Swarm went up 8-6 after Spencer Martin and Ryan Ward scored twelve seconds apart in the second quarter's tenth minute of action. Ward's third goal of the night instigated a goaltending switch, as Blasdell was pulled in favor of Mike Attwood as the Sting looked for a change in momentum after a 9:15 stretch that saw the home team register six goals to the visitors' one. Attwood surrendered a goal soon after entering the game however, with Dean Hill registering his second tally of the match to put the Swarm up 9-6. Dan Dawson then scored his second goal of the night to make the score 9-7, but Chad Culp, another former Sting forward, struck near the end of the half with a big goal that gave the Swarm a 10-7 lead as the game reached its midway point.

The third quarter saw Minnesota continue to apply heavy offensive pressure in the Sting's zone, as Scott Stewart scored his 17th goal of the year 3:24 into the second half, beating the re-instated Rob Blasdell with a hard shot. Curt Malawsky then pulled the Sting back to within three of the Swarm lead with his first goal of the night 0:43 later; the veteran forward took a feed from Craig Conn and beat Disher with a low shot from a tough angle. The Swarm lead was cut to two by Andy Secore, who beat Disher with a high shot to earn his 10th tally of the '07 campaign. A pair of goals from Derek Malawsky then tied the match up 11-11, as the younger Malawsky earned a hat trick for the fourth time this season. Minnesota then went up 12-11 on a goal by Dean Hill at the 9:53 mark of the third quarter, but a highlight reel ‘spin-o-rama' tally re-tied the match at twelve apiece, which was how the score remained as the period came to an end.

Spencer Martin put the Swarm up by one with a goal 2:26 into the fourth period, but Curt Malawsky provided the equalizer with his second tally of the match 1:42 later. Minnesota then went up 14-13 with a goal off the stick of Kasey Beirnes, who fooled Blasdell with a high fake prior to tucking a low shot into the Sting net. On the power play, Beirnes struck again, this time unleashing a canon from fifteen feet out for his third goal of the match. Craig Conn and Derek Malawsky then scored back-to-back goals to tie things up 15-15 with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. After a pair of penalties were handed out, one to Minnesota's Noah Talbot and one to Arizona's Andy Secore, neither team was able to score in four-on-four mode as the game neared the end of regulation. After a shot clock violation by the Sting with 15 seconds remaining, the Swarm summoned Matt Disher on the bench in order to send an extra attacker onto the floor. That extra player, Chad Culp, subsequently shoveled a loose ball into the Arizona net for his second tally of the night with 0.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. After an illegal stick inspection produced no penalty for the Swarm, Minnesota won the final face-off of the match and escaped with a 16-15 in their final home game of 2007. Sting Captain Peter Lough was disappointed with the result of Saturday's game, but feels his team still has a strong shot of making a run in the post-season.

"I though we battled hard out there and we definitely had a lot of chances to win the game," said Lough. "The bottom line is that we didn't get it done, and now we have a harder road to a Champion's Cup than we had anticipated. This team has a lot of character though, and I know we'll bounce back with a strong effort in Calgary next week."

Dan Dawson, who tallied 3G-5A-8P on Saturday to finish the season five points shy of capturing his first NLL scoring championship, echoed his elder teammate's sentiments following the hard-fought loss in St. Paul.

"It's tough to say that we're confident going into the playoffs with three consecutive losses, but I know that if any team can turn things around in a hurry, it's the Sting," said Dawson. "We've beaten the Roughnecks before to get to the finals (2005 West Dvision Championship), so it looks like we'll have to do it again for another shot at the title."

Craig Conn (4G-2A-6P) and Derek Malawsky (4G-2A-6P) both performed admirably for the Sting in a losing effort on Saturday, while Rob Blasdell stopped 27 of the 41 shots he faced between the pipes for Arizona.

The nine wins accumulated by the Sting this season equals a franchise high (2005). This is the third consecutive season in which Arizona has made the playoffs.

The Sting dropped two of their three contests against Calgary during the regular season, but outscored the Riggers 37-36 over the course of 180 minutes of lacrosse. The date and time of next weekend's West Division Semi-Final are expected to be announced on Monday.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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