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Minnesota Swarm Face Knighthawks in Last Game of Season

May 1, 2015 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Minnesota Swarm News Release


SAINT PAUL, Minn. - In its regular season finale this Saturday, the Minnesota Swarm (5-12) will be looking to win the season series against the Rochester Knighthawks (12-5) at 7 p.m. on Ho-Chunk Nation Field at Xcel Energy Center. The game will be streamed online at NLL Live by visiting live.nll.com.

The Swarm will be celebrating Fan Appreciation Night, where early arriving fans will receive a 2015 team poster and all fans will have the opportunity to get autographs from players and coaches after the game. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-888-MN-SWARM or by visiting www.mnswarm.com.

Minnesota defeated Rochester in dramatic fashion back on Feb. 6 when F Callum Crawford sunk the game-winning goal in overtime at The Hive; the Swarm won 7-6. Rochester walked away with the 'W' in its barn on April 4 to even the season series at one a piece.

Even though the season has been full of its ups and downs since that overtime victory at The Hive, the Swarm has never given up. The team has continued to push forward and its younger players have gained valuable experience.

"It's an amazing experience to play in this league every night and I know for a lot of the young guys on our team, this is only five or six games into their career for them so they're always excited," Swarm defenseman Alex Crepinsek said.

Despite being eliminated from the NLL Playoffs, Swarm fans continue to rock The Hive, cheering every goal, and every hit. That kind of support has not gone unnoticed amongst players and coaches.

"We really feel like we owe it to our fans to step up and put a show on for them Saturday night, they've stuck with us for some hard times these last couple years," Crepinsek said. "It wouldn't be fair to them to go out there and not give our best effort, it's the attitude we've kind of had since we've been eliminated from the playoffs."

Swarm F Shayne Jackson (29g, 44a) has stepped up all year and leads the team in scoring with a career-high 73 points. Rookie F Miles Thompson (26g, 33a) continues to stay second amongst all rookies in scoring with 59 points and he also ranks second on the team. Since being picked up at the trade deadline, Swarm T Joel White (9g, 8a) is third in the NLL in loose balls with 167 and teammate T Jordan MacIntosh (20g, 25a) is right behind him in fourth with 160.

Minnesota has the opportunity to play spoiler this weekend as the Knighthawks are looking to lock up the No. 1 seed in the East. The Swarm will need to be on the lookout for Rochester's leading scorer F Cody Jamieson (32g, 55a) and figure out a way past goaltender Matt Vinc who has been in net for 10 of 12 wins for the Knighthawks. The gameplan for the Swarm will stay the same as before: collect a win to finish the season on a positive note.

"Heading into Rochester, it's the same kind of gameplan, we want to compete, see some of the young players, what they can do and put a good show on for our fans," assistant coach Aime Caines said.

During the game this weekend, the Swarm is helping host a School Supplies Drive with the Saint Paul Public Schools Foundation. All school supplies collected will be donated to summer programs at Freedom Schools in Saint Paul. Please help the Swarm support student success in Saint Paul by bringing items to Section 103.

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