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Minnesota Swarm Drop a Close One to the Black Wolves

March 14, 2015 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Minnesota Swarm News Release


Minnesota Swarm Celebrate Goal against New England
Minnesota Swarm Celebrate Goal against New England
(Minnesota Swarm)

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Swarm (3-6) was locked in a battle of physicality against the New England Black Wolves (3-5) in front of a crowd of 8,912 fans on Ho-Chunk Nation Field at Xcel Energy Center Saturday night. The Swarm was unable to force overtime in the final seconds as New England went on to win a close one 10-9.

"The effort was great, I have no fault on the effort, you know sometimes the ball falls a little differently for you but the compete level was incredible," Swarm coach Joe Sullivan said.

New England got a quick jump on the Swarm taking a 2-0 lead in the opening two minutes of play. Forward Dean Hill (3g) got Minnesota on the board with a goal halfway through the first quarter on a beautiful pass by Miles Thompson (1g, 4a). Transition player Jordan MacIntosh (2g, 3a) gave the Swarm the lead on a fantastic dunk shot from behind the net which put Minnesota up by one, 3-2. New England added just one goal in the second quarter while the Swarm put up two more goals to take a 5-3 lead at the break.

Minnesota jumped out to a 6-3 advantage in the second half but New England went on a six-goal scoring run to retake the lead at 9-6. The Swarm answered back with three goals to tie the game at nine but Kevin Crowley of the Black Wolves scored with just over a minute left in regulation. Minnesota got three shots off in the last 14 seconds of the game but was unable to convert. During the last minute of the game the building was rocking as Swarm fans cheered loud on their feet. Minnesota's crowd, the "7th Man", was loud all game long and Swarm coach Sullivan took notice.

"Today was just outstanding," said Sullivan in regards to Saturday's crowd. "You could feel the energy and the players feel the energy and it seems like that was our driving factor for the last six or seven minutes of that fourth quarter. A little bit longer, a few seconds more and I think we probably would've had that tied up."

Forwards Shayne Jackson (1g, 5a), Thompson (1g, 4a) and T MacIntosh (2g, 3a) led Minnesota in scoring. Hill recorded his first hat trick of the season while goaltender Zach Higgins made 39 saves in net for the Swarm. On the other side, Mark Cockerton (2g, 3a), Crowley (1g, 3a) and Kyle Buchanan (3a) led New England in scoring.

Minnesota will be back in action tomorrow night on the road against Colorado (4-5) at Pepsi Center. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. CT. This will be the final regular season meeting between the two teams this season. Fans can catch the game on WatchESPN.com (U.S.) and TSNGo (Canada).

" We're going to have to just get the most out of every single player so the expectation is that they go get some good rest, they stretch themselves out and prepare for tomorrow," Sullivan said.

The Swarm returns to Ho-Chunk Nation Field at Xcel Energy Center on Friday, April 3 for a rematch against New England during Faith and Family Night. Faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-888-MN-SWARM or by visiting www.mnswarm.com.




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Minnesota Swarm Celebrate Goal against New England
Minnesota Swarm Celebrate Goal against New England
   



National Lacrosse League Stories from March 14, 2015


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