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NLL: Swarm Clinch West Title
April 27, 2008
from staff reports The Philadelphia Wings (10-6) defeated the Toronto Rock (7-9), 15-14, at Air Canada Centre on Sunday. Athan Iannucci scored four goals, including the game-winner with 44 seconds remaining in regulation, to lead the Wings. Jim Veltman, playing in his final career game for the Rock, scored recorded a goal, four assists and 17 loose balls. Philadelphia grabbed an 8-2 lead after the first quarter, but Toronto battled back, tying the game in the fourth quarter with a four-goal run. Iannucci scored the game-winner minutes later on a rebound shot that beat Mike Poulin. Jamie Rooney, Jason Crosbie and AJ Shannon each scored two goals, while Geoff Snider chipped in three assists and won 27 of 32 faceoffs. Rob Blasdell (30 saves, 7 goals against) and Brandon Miller (29 saves, 7 goals against) traded halves in goal with Miller being credited the win. Lewis Ratcliff and Blaine Manning scored three goals apiece for Toronto, while Aaron Wilson and Scott Campbell each scored twice. Bob Watson (6 saves, 6 goals against) was pulled in the first quarter for Poulin (21 saves, 8 goals against). Poulin was credited the loss. Philadelphia meets the Buffalo Bandits next Friday at HSBC Arena in the East Division Semifinals.
SATURDAY Despite putting 15 more shots on goal than the Stealth, the Mammoth was stifled offensively in an 11-6 loss at the HP Pavilion. Both teams finished the National Lacrosse League regular season with 9-7 records, but the Stealth claimed the West Division title with the victory, by virtue of its 2-1 mark against the Mammoth this year.
As the No. 2 seed, the Mammoth will host a West Division Semifinal playoff game at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 3 at Pepsi Center. No. 1 San Jose will host the other semifinal. The Portland LumberJax and Calgary Roughnecks round out the West playoff field, but their seeds will not be determined until after tonight's games.
After allowing five Stealth goals on six shots, Mammoth goaltender Gee Nash was replaced in favor of Chris Levis, who came on to stop 27-of-33 shots. The Mammoth, trailing 5-2 after the first quarter, cut San Jose's leads to 6-4 at halftime and 7-6 after three quarters. But the Stealth got goals from Colin Doyle, Cam Sedgwick, Gary Rosyski and Jeff Zywicki, and goaltender Anthony Cosmo stopped all eight shots he faced in the fourth quarter. Cosmo, who stopped 16-of-18 in the third quarter, finished with 48 saves on 54 shots. Brian Langtry and Jamie Shewchuk both tallied two goals and two assists, leading the Mammoth with four points each. Captain Gavin Prout had two assists to finish the season with 67, tops in the NLL and just four shy of the league record. Zywicki led the Stealth with three goals and Colin Doyle led all scorers with nine points on two goals and a game-high seven assists.
Minnesota 12, Chicago 11 Ryan Ward led Minnesota with four goals, while Sean Pollock and Andy Secore each scored twice. Nick Patterson recorded 42 saves in the win. Mat Giles led Chicago with four goals, while Bill McGlone added two. Matt Roik (13 saves, 9 goals against) was pulled in the second quarter and replaced by Derek Collins (24 saves, 3 goals against). Collins was credited with the loss. The Swarm led 5-3 after the first quarter and 10-7 at halftime, before Chicago outscored Minnesota 4-2 in the second half to cut the deficit to one goal.
Calgary 12, Edmonton 8 Another tight game between the two Alberta teams, the first three quarters saw most of the goals made matched by the rival. In the fourth, the Roughnecks turned the play around and took hold of the lead, refusing to let go. With Mike Carnegie and Chris Seller opening the contest with a goal each, it appeared that perhaps this game would see Calgary dominate the field. Mike Hominuck took matters into his own hands dropping a ball behind Steve Dietrich to finally put the Rush on the score board at 6:34. Bruce Codd scored again tonight proving that the looseball leader is very capable of notching his own goals. Mike Grimes scored and Dan Teat quickly following suit, tearing two behind Steve Dietrich, thus closing the quarter and the Rush taking their first lead of the night at 4-3. Curt Malawsky opened the half with a goal two minutes in, tying the game and nine minutes later scored another unanswered making it 5-4. Jeff Shattler took a rough hit and had to hobble off the floor. Dan Stroup eager to break the Roughnecks lead took a long shot to tally his first of the night. Tracey Kelusky scored making this his 11th goal this season closing the half at 6-5. Pat `Paddy' Campbell was added as relief in the third, shutting down several Rush attempts before Hominuck snuck in another goal. The third picked up momentum with Jimmy Quinlan setting up Hominuck for his third of the night and 15th of the season. Kaleb Toth finally landed a goal followed by Malawsky marking his hat trick closing the third with Calgary leading Edmonton 8-7. In the fourth, Malawsky again scored opening a two goal gap ahead of the Rush. Jimmy Quinlin scored at 5:29 cutting the Calgary lead. A crease violation stopped Hominuck from earning his fourth, while Kelly Hall immediately answered back with a goal. After setting up just about everybody else on the team for a goal, Josh Sanderson marked his first goal of the night landing Calgary at the final 12-8 score. Closing this game, Calgary secures third in the race for the cup. Looks like Colorado isn't going to finish first in the Western Division after losing their game tonight but Calgary will be off May 3rd to meet the Mammoth in the first round of playoff.
Buffalo 14, Portland 10 John Tavares led Buffalo with four goals, while Roger Vyse and Brett Bucktooth each scored twice. Mike Thompson earned the win in goal with 46 saves. Portland was led by Peter Jacobs, who scored a career-high four goals. Dallas Eliuk started in goal and recorded 36 saves in the loss. Buffalo (10-6) will host an East Division Semifinal game on Friday, May 2nd at HSBC Arena (opponent TBD). Portland (7-9) is the fourth place team in the West and meets the San Jose Stealth in a West Division Semifinal game on Sunday, May 4th at HP Pavilion.
New York 12, Rochester 11 The win sends the Titans to the playoffs, while the Knighthawks are eliminated from post-season contention for the first time in their franchise's 15-year history with the loss. The Philadelphia Wings also clinch a playoff berth as a result of the Rochester loss. FRIDAY Chicago 12, Minnesota 10 Lacrosse is often compared to hockey, and in many cases, hockey is called the sister sport of lacrosse. Tonight, first-year Shamrox player Brad Self, who is a professional hockey player in Germany, scored four goals and picked up one assist as the Shamrox defeated the Swarm 12-10 at the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota tonight. All eyes in Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center were on the Swarm when the team took off to an early 4-0 lead that was broken by Tom Montour, who didn't score until nearly 12 minutes into the first quarter. The first quarter would be the only time Minnesota would lead the game besides the first three minutes in the second. So far this season, the Shamrox have posted a 3-0 record when leading after the second quarter and after tonight's game, the Shamrox can now increase that to 4-0. Four goals in the second quarter, including two goals by Brad Self, helped the Shamrox take the 7-4 lead going into half-time, which is the Shamrox stronger half of the game. Some of tonight's victory can be contributed to Shamrox goalie Matt Roik, who had a season high 53 saves. Roik only gave up ten goals tonight, which is tied with his season low which also came against Minnesota on March 29 at the Sears Centre Arena when the Shamrox beat the Swarm 15-10. Since Roik joined the Shamrox, the team has gone 5-3 compared to 1-6 when the team had Brandon Miller in the goal. | ||||||
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