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Jax Begin Stretch Run In Buffalo

March 17, 2009 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Portland Lumberjax News Release


PORTLAND, March 17, 2009 - The second half of the 2009 National Lacrosse League season begins Saturday, March 21st for the Portland LumberJax as they travel to Buffalo to meet the Bandits at 4:30 p.m. PST at the HSBC Arena. Idle since February 28th, the Jax (5-3) are on a four-game winning streak and are looking to avenge last year's NLL Championship Game loss to the Bandits.

In the 14-13 loss to Buffalo last May, Portland was led by forward Ryan Powell, who matched a Jax career-high with eight points (2 goals, 6 assists). Forwards Peter Morgan and Peter Jacobs also scored two goals a piece and added an assist.

Buffalo (7-3) was led by transition player Mark Steenhuis (5 goals, 1 assist) and forward John Tavares (2 goals, 2 assists). In goal, Mike Thompson stopped 39 of the 52 shots he faced to earn the win in front of a raucous crowd of 18,690.

The Championship Game experience has clearly helped a young Portland team through the first half of the 2009 season. After starting 1-3, the Jax kick started their four game winning streak by slamming the Edmonton Rush 15-10 on January 23rd. Portland then traveled to Boston and beat the expansion Blazers 9-8 in overtime to even its record.

In February, the Jax went a perfect 2-0 to improve their record to 5-3 and enter the All-Star Break in second place in the West Division.

During the perfect month, Portland scored a season-high 16 goals in a 16-13 win over the San Jose Stealth on February 7th. Then, the Jax won their fourth straight by clipping the Philadelphia Wings, 12-10, on February 28th.

While the three-week break in the middle of a four-game winning streak might seem inopportune for most teams, it's clearly not the case for the Jax. The team sat idle from Feb. 7-Feb. 28 and did not lose a beat. In the Philadelphia win, Morgan scored a season-high seven points (2 goals, 5 assists) and forward Derek Malawsky scored a season-high three goals en route to a season-high seven point performance.

The four-game winning streak has seen the Jax score an average of 13 goals-per-game and yield only 10.25. On the season, Portland is averaging 11.63 goals-per-game and has only allowed 10 goals-per-game. Goalie Matt Disher has made 45+ saves in every game during the winning streak and has stopped 82% of the shots he's faced during Portland's longest winning streak since the expansion season in 2006.

In a division where the top four teams are only separated by two-and-a-half games, each game is becoming more and more important for the Championship hopeful Jax. Portland has another test Saturday as they face a playoff atmosphere in the HSBC Arena and a playoff contender in the Bandits.

The game is available via the NLL Network. To access the free broadcast, go to NLL.com.

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