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Swarm hosts Portland Saturday

April 8, 2009 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Minnesota Swarm News Release


SAINT PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The National Lacrosse League's (NLL) Minnesota Swarm (6-8) tries to solidify its playoff position Saturday when it hosts the Portland LumberJax, 7:00 PM at the Xcel Energy Center. The first 5,000 fans in attendance Saturday will receive Swarm chip clips.

Minnesota, San Jose and Colorado are tied for third in the West Division, 1.5 games behind Portland for second place. Colorado hosts San Jose Saturday at the Pepsi Center while Portland opens the weekend Friday at Calgary. The top four seeds make the NLL Playoffs with the top two seeds hosting in the first round. Minnesota will play its final game April 18th vs. New York and can clinch a playoff spot with wins in its final two games.

This is the second meeting of the season as Minnesota opened the year with an 11-7 victory over the LumberJax, January 3 at the Rose Garden. F Sean Pollock scored six points (2-4=6) and D Kevin Ross added five (3-2=5) as Minnesota had 13 players with a point. G Kevin Croswell made 42 saves for Minnesota, earning his first career NLL victory. F Cory Conway led Portland with three assists, F Peter Morgan added two goals, and former Swarm G Matt Disher made 32 saves in the loss.

Minnesota is coming off a weekend split, falling 18-8 at San Jose last Friday before responding with a 9-7 home victory over Edmonton on Saturday. Pollock led the Swarm with six points (3-3=6) on the weekend and F Ryan Ward added five (2-3=5). On Saturday, F Chad Culp scored the game-winning goal and added three assists and Croswell made a career-high 46 saves in the win. Pollock leads the Swarm with 53 points (20-33=53) and F Aaron Wilson is second with 52 (28-24=52). Croswell improved to 3-3 and is ranked third in the NLL with a .788 save percentage (SV %), and fourth in the NLL with a 10.44 goals-against-average (GAA). G Nick Patterson is 3-5 with a 13.39 GAA and .720 SV %.

Portland is also coming of a weekend split, losing 11-10 at Edmonton on Friday, followed by a 13-12 overtime victory vs. Colorado on Saturday. F Derek Malawsky (16-31=47) and F Ryan Powell (14-33=47) lead Portland with 47 points each. Disher is 6-5 with a 10.96 GAA and is second in the NLL with a .794 SV %.

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 with special discounts available for groups of 20 or more for Saturday's game. Consistent with the Swarm's new mission statement to grow youth lacrosse across Minnesota, the Swarm donated tickets to Area High School girls and boys lacrosse teams. Each team had the chance to fundraise up to $500.00 for their team with sales of tickets to Saturday's game.

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