Portland Begins Three-Game Homestand

Published on February 14, 2008 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Portland Lumberjax News Release


PORTLAND, February 14, 2007 - It's been almost one full month, but the Portland LumberJax have finally returned home to the Rose Garden Arena. After a long four-game road trip, the Jax (1-5) host the Edmonton Rush (0-4) at 3 p.m. on Sunday, February 17. Portland will be looking for its first home win of the season.

The road stint began in Calgary on Jan. 26 where the Roughnecks beat the Jax 13-6. Forward Derek Malawsky supplied a game-high four points (2 goals, 2 assists).

On the second game of the trip, the Jax picked up their first win of the season in an 11-10 win over the Rush on Feb. 2. Malawsky put in the game winning goal with 2:23 left in regulation to secure the win. Rookie forward Cory Conway and transition player Adam Bysouth scored their first goals of the season in what was their first game of action. Bysouth also assisted on Malawsky's winning goal.

Goalie Matt King only allowed 10 goals as the veteran netminder earned his first win of the season. King stopped 28 of the 38 shots he faced, with the vast majority coming during the fourth quarter.

Five nights later, Portland met its West Division rival, the Colorado Mammoth. Ryan Powell scored four goals and forward Spencer Martin added a season-high six assists as the Jax fell 15-12 to Colorado.

Goalie Dallas Eliuk reached a historic first in Colorado as the 17-year veteran became the first player in National Lacrosse League history to play in 200 career regular season games. Eliuk played like a future hall-of-famer as he stopped 17 of the 18 shots he faced in nearly 20-minutes of action.

The road trip culminated with a hard fought overtime contest against the Minnesota Swarm. Portland scored a season-high 13 goals, but the Swarm's Ryan Cousins put in the winner 44-seconds into overtime to give his team a 14-13 win. Defenseman Pat Jones collected a career-high 19 loose balls and Brodie Merrill added four assists in the effort.

Portland also got a surge of offense from a few unlikely sources. Jones scored the first goal of his Jax career in the first quarter. Defenseman Ray Guze scored his first goal in almost a year during the third quarter and defenseman Brad MacDonald added his first goal of the 2008 season.

Sunday's game is the seventh meeting all-time between Portland and Edmonton. The Jax are 5-1 overall and hold a +15 goal scoring margin over the Rush. Also, Portland is 3-0 vs. Edmonton at the Rose Garden.

In five career games, forward Peter Morgan has cleaned up against Edmonton. In addition to being the franchise leader in goals scored (47), Morgan has led Portland with 23 points (15 goals, 8 assists) against the Rush.

After hosting Edmonton, the Roughnecks come to town on Friday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. before the Rush make their final road trip in 2008 to the Rose City on Saturday, Mar. 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



National Lacrosse League Stories from February 14, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central