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Minnesota Swarm Hosts Buffalo Saturday

January 20, 2009 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Minnesota Swarm News Release


SAINT PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The National Lacrosse League's (NLL) Minnesota Swarm (2-0) will host the defending NLL Champion Buffalo Bandits (3-0) Saturday, 7:00 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center. The game will be broadcast live on KSTC-TV, Channel 45, and the first 5000 fans in attendance will receive a Minnesota Swarm rally towel.

Minnesota opened the season with an 11-7 victory at Portland (1/3) and a 10-7 victory over San Jose (1/10). Forwards Ryan Ward (3-2=5) and Kevin Ross (1-4=5) led the team with five points and goalie Nick Patterson made 36 saves in his first win of the season against San Jose. Ross leads the Swarm with 10 points (4-6=10), while Ward (5-4=9) and forward Sean Pollock (4-5=9) are tied for second on the team with nine points.

The Bandits, defending NLL champions, are 3-0 with wins over Philadelphia (15-11), Toronto (8-6) and Rochester (23-6). Transition player Mark Steenhuis leads the team in goals (15), assists (10) and points (25). The Bandits also have two other players in double digits, Forward John Tavares is second on the team with 13 points (6-7=13), and Forward Roger Vyse has 12 points (7-5=12). Goalie Ken Montour leads the league in GAA at 6.00 and SV % at .879.

The Swarm owns one win against the Bandits in 10 regular season meetings, including an 0-4 mark at Xcel Energy Center. Buffalo also defeated Minnesota in the first round of the 2006 and 2007 NLL playoffs. The teams met twice last season in Buffalo with the Bandits coming away with 16-14 (2/16/08) and 11-7 (3/8/08) victories. Minnesota won 11-8 in Buffalo (3/4/06), the only win against Buffalo in franchise history. The teams will meet again in Buffalo, 2/28 at HSBC Arena.

Featured at halftime of the game will be a performance by "Flippenouts," an extreme trampoline show featuring the best athletes in North America, including Olympic Medalists and World Champions. They have performed worldwide at NBA, NHL and other professional and collegiate sports venues as well as corporate and community events.

Fans can receive a free ride to Minnesota Swarm home games by simply showing their ticket for that day's game to the driver as they board a bus, or a Transit Police Officer on the Hiawatha Light-Rail Line. Free rides are available two hours before face off until two hours after the game ends. Seven Metro Transit routes travel right past Xcel Energy Center, making it easy to get to and from games.

Reaching more than 1.6 million television homes, KSTC-TV, Channel 45, is also available on cable channel 12 (on most metro cable stations) and is carried on DirecTV and Dish Network satellite systems. Matt Thomas, host of the Matt Thomas Show on am1500 KSTP Radio will serve as the play-by-play announcer and Swarm Internet broadcaster Marcus Dee will provide color commentary.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from January 20, 2009


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