Jax Playoff Bound With 11-9 Win

Published on April 11, 2009 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Portland Lumberjax News Release


CALGARY, AB, April 10, 2009 - For the third time in four seasons the Portland LumberJax are playoff bound. By virtue of beating the Calgary Roughnecks, 11-9, Friday night in front of 10,387 at the Pengrowth Saddledome, the Jax (8-6) clinched their second consecutive postseason berth. Playing for the first time since March 29th, goalie Matt Disher went the distance, stopping 36 of the 45 shots he faced in the win.

The Jax can now clinch at least second place in the West Division and a home playoff game by beating the Minnesota Swarm tomorrow. The Jax and Swarm meet at 5 p.m. PST at the Xcel Energy Center. The game can be seen via the NLL Network.

"It was a total team effort tonight," said Head Coach/General Manager Derek Keenan. "You win games like that with grit and determination. We had some penalties early and battled through that that. Once again, the goaltending was spectacular for us. I also think the defense played one of its best games ever. We also executed pretty well on the offensive end."

It took Portland little time to get on the board as forward Scott Stewart (3 goals) scored just 10-seconds in. Off defenseman Pat Jones' (1 assist, 15 face-off wins) face-off win, defenseman Richard Morgan (2 assists) hit Stewart, who put the Jax up 1-0.

Calgary responded with three goals before Portland went on a 4-0 run to make it 5-3. With 3:45 left in the first quarter, forward Peter Morgan (2 goals, 4 assists) scored on the power play off a give-and-go from forward Ryan Powell (2 goals, 3 assists). P. Morgan scored another power play goal with 1:48 left in the first to tie the game.

The 4-0 run continued into the second quarter as forward Peter Jacobs (2 goals) scored 56-seconds in. Then, forward Cory Conway (1 goal, 3 assists) scored off a pass from transition player Tyler Codron with 13:35 left in the second quarter to make it 5-3.

A quick Roughneck goal made it 5-4 before Portland extended the lead to 6-4 as Stewart scored in transition off a pass from defenseman Brodie Merrill (1 assist, 20 loose balls) with 7:07 left in the half. 19-seconds later, Jacobs followed with his second goal of the game to push the lead to 7-4.

The Roughnecks would close the half on a 2-0 run to cut the Portland lead to 7-6 at the break.

Powell opened the half with his first goal of the game to give Portland an 8-6 lead. As the man advantage ended, Powell took a pass from forward Matt Brown (3 assists) and beat Calgary goalie Pat Campbell with 11:48 left in the third quarter.

Like the end of the first half, Calgary closed the third quarter on a 2-0 run to tie the game after three quarters of play.

The Jax took their third lead of the game at 9-8 as Powell scored on the power play off a behind the back pass from Conway with 9:31 left in the fourth quarter. Then, off some pretty passing from P. Morgan and Powell, forward Dan Stroup scored with 7:07 left in regulation to make it 10-8.

After trading possessions for the next several minutes, Calgary scored with 2:39 left to make it 10-9.

With a playoff berth on the line, the Jax defense locked the Roughnecks down the rest of the way. Stewart scored his third goal of the game with 17-seconds left to put the icing on the cake and clinch Portland's third postseason bid in four years.

Notes: With his 24 points, Jacobs has set a career-high...With his 12 points, Codron has already established a career-high...Powell has scored 50 points or more in three straight seasons...Brown tallied a season-high three assists...Merrill has eclipsed 200 loose balls for the third time in his career...Stewart scored a season-high three goals...Portland's four power play goals were the second highest total this season for the team.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from April 11, 2009


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