Malawsky seals Jax win over Rush, 11-10

February 2, 2008 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Portland Lumberjax News Release


EDMONTON AB - 21 combined goals, five ties, four lead changes and one very satisfying victory for the Portland LumberJax. Behind a hat trick and game-clinching goal by forward Derek Malawsky (3 goals), Portland (1-3) defeated the Edmonton Rush (0-4) 11-10 in front of 7,072 Saturday night at Rexall Place. Portland came from behind and scored the final two goals of the game to its their first win of the season.

10-seconds into the game, the scoring began for the Jax. Defenseman Pat Jones won the opening face-off and hit a streaking Tyler Codron for the first goal of his young National Lacrosse League career at the 14:50 mark of the first quarter . The assist was also Jones' first of the season.

Rookie forward Cory Conway (1 goal, 2 assists) came back with 13:31 in the quarter and whipped a shot through Rush goalie Curtis Palidwor's legs to make it 2-0 Jax. The goal was also the first of Conway's career.

After an Edmonton goal, forward Matt Holman scored off a series of passes from forward Ryan Powell (2 assists) and defenseman Brodie Merrill (1 goal, 1 assist) to extend the Portland lead to two with 7:03 in the quarter.

Powell stayed in the giving mood as he setup Malawsky with 6:12 left in the quarter to put the Jax up 4-1. As if things could not get any better, Merrill scooped up a loose ball in the defensive zone and went the distance, beating Palidwor with 13-seconds left to give the Jax a commanding 5-1 lead after one quarter. The five-goal first quarter was a season-high for Portland.

Edmonton struck first in the second quarter, but transition player Adam Bysouth (1 goal, 1 assist) put an end to Palidwor's night when the five-year veteran scored his first goal of the season with 13:02 left in the second quarter. Late in the shot clock, Bysouth sent a screamer under the legs of Palidwor to give the Jax a 6-2 lead. Both Conway and transition player Scott Stapleford (1 goal, 1 assist) were credited with assists on the goal.

Veteran net minder Matt Disher was then summoned to replace the struggling Palidwor and he did not disappoint. Disher would hold the Jax scoreless for the rest of the half as the Rush went on a three-goal run to cut the Portland lead to 6-5.

The six first-half goals were a season-high for the Jax who came in averaging 9.33 goals-per-game.

The Rush continued their scoring spree by notching the first two goals of the third quarter to take their first lead of the game. The Jax finally responded with 9:21 to play in the quarter when Malawsky scored on the power play off an assist from Dan Dawson (2 goals, 1 assist) to tie the game at seven. The goal ended an 18-minute and 31-second scoring drought for Portland.

22-seconds later, Dawson scored on another power play off a pass from Conway to give Portland an 8-7 lead with 8:59 to play in the quarter. However, the lead was short lived as the Rush tied the game for the third time with 6:52 left in the third off a goal from Mike Accursi.

Portland took its third lead of the game at 9-8 when Ian Crashley assisted on a Stapleford goal with 5:09 left in the quarter. The Edmonton defense stood motionless as Crashley streaked down the floor and hit Stapleford, who buried a shot behind Disher.

Keeping the back-and-forth theme of the night, the Rush tied the game, again. With 3:06 left in the third quarter, Jimmy Quinlan scored his third goal of the game off a pass from Ben Prepchuk.

The defense for both teams took over the rest of the third quarter and the first six-minutes and 41-seconds of the fourth quarter until Accursi scored his third goal of the game to give Edmonton its second lead of the game at 9-10 with 8:19 to play.

Dawson came back with 4:14 in regulation and sent a missile past an overmatched Disher to tie the game for the fifth time at 10.

Malawsky answered back with 2:23 left with a perimeter score to give the Jax an 11-10 edge that they would not surrender. Bysouth was credited with his first assist of the season on the game-clinching goal.

Goalie Matt King faced the Edmonton firing squad for the final 2:23, but held the Rush scoreless as Portland picked up its first win of the season. Overall, King stopped 28 of the 28 shots he faced from Edmonton.

The Rush were led by Accursi and Quinlan, who both registered hat tricks. In relief, Disher stopped 23 of the 28 shots he faced.



National Lacrosse League Stories from February 2, 2008


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