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NLL's Minnesota Swarm Falls to Defending Champs Buffalo Bandits 10-9

January 24, 2009 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Minnesota Swarm News Release


SAINT PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Minnesota Swarm (2-1) lost its first game of the 2009 season 10-9 to the defending NLL Champion Buffalo Bandits (4-0) in front of 11,458 at the Xcel Energy Center. Forwards Kevin Ross and Dean Hill each had a goal and three assists to lead the Swarm. F John Tavares led Buffalo with a goal and four assists G Mike Thompson made 58 saves in the win.

The Bandits showed its championship form early taking a 4-0 lead into the second quarter. F Mike Accursi scored two goals and F John Tavares added four assists in the quarter. The Swarm replaced starter Nick Patterson at 13:19 after the fourth goal and put Kevin Croswell in net in relief. "It's tough on a goaltender when he's not starting," said Swarm Coach Duane Jacobs. "It's not impossible to come back but we put ourselves in a tough spot." Buffalo extended its lead to five early in the second quarter with a goal from F Kyle Schmelzle at 2:19, but the Swarm finally found its scoring touch and responded with four consecutive goals.

F Kevin Fines put Minnesota on the board with a goal at 2:52, assisted by F Nick Inch. Buffalo would then find itself in penalty trouble giving Minnesota a 5-3 power-play and F Dan Marohl found the net at 6:22 on the power-play to cut the lead to 5-2. At 8:10 F Ryan Ward scored his team leading sixth goal of the season, both forwards Dan Hill and Kevin Ross received their second assists of the night. With the momentum on Minnesota's side, F Chad Culp put the goal streak at four in a row with an un-assisted goal at 8:53, turning what was once a 5-0 Bandits lead to just a one goal game. Buffalo showed its championship form once again by responding with two goals to end the half; D Clay Hill and F Delby Powless scored to extend the Bandit's halftime lead to 7-4.

Minnesota carried the play in the third quarter, outscoring Buffalo 3-1. Ward scored his second of the game at 4:57, followed by Ross at 8:33 to make the score 7-6. The Bandits responded at 8:43 with a goal from F Roger Vyse and looked to extend the lead to 9-6 but the controversial call was over-turned and the game remained 8-6. Less than a minute later at 10:13 F Ryan Cousins cut the deficit to one with a goal assisted by F Andrew Watt. The game continued its see-saw battle though with Buffalo scoring 19 seconds into the fourth quarter on a goal from F Sean Greenhalgh. Minnesota was not finished though and found a way to complete its comeback, tying the game at 9 with goals from Hill at 4:24 and D Kevin Fines at 10:34, setting up a frantic finish. Buffalo asserted itself one final time on the night as John Tavares added to his four assists with the game-winning-goal at 13:28. The Swarm had one final attack in the last 20 seconds but were unable to find a way past goalie Mike Thompson and the Bandits held on for the win.

Ryan Ward and Kevin Fines led Minnesota with two goals each and Kevin Croswell made 33 saves in the loss. "Give credit to our defense mucking it up," Swarm General Manager Marty O'Neill said. "We played well but we can play better. Who knows where we will be after 16 games or where they will be after 16 games, but I like our team in the long haul."

Minnesota will play its next game at Calgary Friday, February 6th and return home to Xcel Energy Center Saturday night February 7th. Swarm single game tickets are on sale now at the Xcel Energy Center Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, by calling 888-MN-SWARM or by visiting www.mnswarm.com. Swarm Single game tickets are available in all price categories and range from $13.00 to $65.00.



National Lacrosse League Stories from January 24, 2009


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