Sports stats



Swarm defeat defending champs

February 28, 2009 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Minnesota Swarm News Release


BUFFALO, NY - The Minnesota Swarm (4-5) won its second game in as many nights with a thrilling 16-15 come from behind victory over the defending NLL Champion Buffalo Bandits (7-2) Saturday night in front of 18,690 at HSBC Arena. F Sean Pollock led all scorers with nine points (3-6=9), F Aaron Wilson added five goals and G Nick Patterson made 24 saves for the win. F John Tavares had seven points (4-3=7) to lead the Bandits and G Ken Montour made 23 saves in the loss.

Buffalo took an early 4-2 lead on the back of F Mark Steenhuis, who led the Bandits with two goals and an assist in the first quarter. F Chad Culp and F Kevin Ross each scored for the Swarm which gave up the first goal of the game for the eighth time this season. Minnesota answered with a strong second quarter, out-scoring the Bandits 5-4 including two of Wilson's five goals on the night. Sean Pollock, F Kevin Buchanan and F Chad Culp also scored for Minnesota.

The Swarm began the third quarter with three goals, making it a 7-0 run for Minnesota after ending the first half with four consecutive goals. Wilson tied the game at eight just over a minute into the third quarter and Buchanan scored his seventh goal of the weekend to give the Swarm the lead. Pollock extended the lead to two before F Mike Accursi scored on the power-play to cut Minnesota's lead to 10-9 after three quarters.

With Minnesota playing the second game of a back-to-back it appeared fatigue set in with the Swarm early in the fourth quarter. Despite Wilson's power-play goal 44 seconds into the final quarter, Buffalo responded with two short-handed goals while killing off a 5-minute major penalty and took over the momentum. The Bandits poured in five consecutive to take a 14-11 lead. The Swarm refused to quit though and finally found the scoring touch it has been looking for. Minnesota put on a thrilling comeback with five goals in the final 4:02 including the eventual game winner from F Dan Marohl with just a minute remaining. F Cory Bomberry scored for Buffalo to cut the deficit to one but the Bandits were unable to find the tying marker as Minnesota held on for just the second victory over Buffalo in franchise history.

Wilson (5-3=8) and Culp (2-6=8) each had eight points behind Pollock's nine, the highest single game point total for a Swarm player this season. Wilson now has 14 points (7-7=14) in his first three games with the Swarm. Patterson received the win after replacing starter Kevin Croswell in net. Croswell made six saves on 14 shots in just over 25 minutes of action.

The Swarm is off next weekend for the 2009 NLL All-Star Game, Saturday at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. D Ryan Cousins and D Nick Inch will represent Minnesota at the All-Star game. Cousins, Minnesota's captain, has three points (1-2=3) and 42 loose balls this season while Inch has three assists and 26 loose balls.

Minnesota's next home game is Saturday, March 28th vs. the Calgary Roughnecks. 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.

• Discuss this story on the National Lacrosse League message board...

National Lacrosse League Stories from February 28, 2009


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