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Sting Back in First Place After 13-9 Home Win Over Edmonton

March 10, 2006 - National Lacrosse League (NLL) News Release


GLENDALE, ARIZONA --- A season high 6,705 fans were treated to an entertaining and energetic lacrosse game at Glendale Arena on Friday night, as the Arizona Sting defeated the Edmonton Rush by a margin of four goals for the second time in six days. With the victory, the Sting are now tied with the Colorado Mammoth for top spot in the NLL's West Division.

The first quarter set the tone for the game with tremendous action on both sides of the turf resulting in a 5-4 Arizona lead. The right side of the Sting's attack contributed mightily in the opening frame, with Jonas Derks and Dan Dawson scoring goals and Craig Conn netting three to earn his fourth first-half hat trick of the season. Kerry Susheski scored two goals for the Rush in the first period, with Kevin Howard and Tyler Heavenor also contributing to Edmonton's cause with tallies. After being held scoreless in last weekend's road win against the Rush, Craig Conn was happy to have rekindled his scoring touch early in Friday's game.

"It was nice to get a few quick ones out there for sure," said Conn. "I couldn't seem to find the back of the net last week, but tonight I saw the floor a little better and was able to get some good shots off thanks to some huge picks from my teammates."

The second quarter established a decidedly more defensive tone, with both goaltenders (Mike Miron for the Sting and Pat Campbell for the Rush) confounding their opposition's shooters on multiple occasions. Craig Conn scored his fourth goal of the game 7:15 into the period to put Arizona up by a score of 6-4. Dan Dawson added to the Sting lead three minutes later and Jason Crosbie continued the Arizona onslaught, scoring a goal with1:13 remaining in the first half. Mike Miron, making his first start of the season at Glendale Arena, didn't allow a single goal in the second quarter to help give the Sting an 8-4 lead at the game's midway point. Miron was pleased with his performance in the game and with his team as a whole.

"It was nice to get a win at home for the fans," said Miron. "My defense deserves a lot of the credit for the win tonight too though. I think I heard more thirty-second violation buzzers tonight than I have all season. They really made it tough for the Rush to get shots on me and that made my job a lot easier."

The Sting carried their first-half momentum into the third quarter. Craig Conn scored his fifth of night 5:44 into the frame on the power play. The Rush responded with their first goal in over twenty-five minutes shortly thereafter as Brad Dairon beat Mike Miron with a low shot. Dan Dawson restored the five-goal Sting advantage with 1:27 remaining in the third period and Peter Lough made the score 11-5 in Arizona's favor just before the quarter ended on an impressive two-on-one break with Chris Seller.

Rookie Matt Brown scored for the fourth consecutive game just over a minute into the fourth period to make the score 12-5 in Arizona's advantage. Edmonton responded with a goal by Jim Quinlan, their leading scorer, thirty seconds later. The Rush then went on a brief offensive explosion, scoring three goals in less than one minute (by Cam Bergman, Jamey Bowen, and Randy Daly) to cut Arizona's lead to three goals. The Sting were able to slow the pace of the game down in the late going however, and Chris Seller scored his fifth goal of the season into the empty net to secure the victory and send the loyal Sting fans home happy. Head Coach/General Manager Bob Hamley was pleased with his team's performance and gave credit to his goaltender for preserving the victory.

"Mike Miron is a huge part of this team," said Hamley. "In the Champions Cup Final last season, there were two goalies and Mike was one of them, so we know that he has what it takes to excel at this level. He played a great game tonight and our team as a whole played like we know they can. We're looking forward to tomorrow's game with Portland and then next week's match-up with Colorado. The midway part of a season is all about streaks, and hopefully ours will continue for a while."

The Sting play the Portland Lumberjax tomorrow night at the Rose Garden. Arizona defeated Portland 12-7 on January 13 at the Glendale Arena. The game can be seen on-line via B2 Networks. Visit www.nll.com for further details.

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