The Minnesota Swarm are off to their first 3-0 start in franchise history after upsetting the defending champion Rochester Knighthawks, 18-17, in overtime on Saturday.
WEEKEND RECAP: NEWS & QUOTES
"We got booed and we deserved it" said one coach following loss
01/28/2008
Weekend Recap, News & Quotesby Darek Truesdale for NLL.com
With all twelve teams in action last weekend (eight games in total), there's plenty to talk about in this week's recap. Here's what happened:
In Colorado on Saturday, the Mammoth were able to improve their record to 4-0 with an 11-6 win over the San Jose Stealth. Colorado dominated the score sheet by outscoring San Jose in every quarter. Dan Carey led that scoring with three goals and three assists.
"We have a creative bunch on offense," said Mammoth goaltender Gee Nash to Theresa Smith of the Denver Post after the game. "They are an unselfish bunch. They really like to move the ball, and when you're moving the ball, you're going to see those highlight-reel goals."
The win for Colorado came after a Thursday night game where the Mammoth defeated the Portland Lumberjax 12-11 in overtime. Once again, Dan Carey led the scoring with three goals and three assists.
"It's disappointing," said LumberJax head coach Derek Keenan to Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian after the loss. "I really felt we were the better team tonight."
San Jose's loss to Colorado came after they were defeated in their home opener, 16-13, by the Calgary Roughnecks. Jeff Zywicki continued his scoring dominance this season with three goals and three assists in that game. However, he was topped by Jeff Shattler's four goals and four assists for Calgary. Steve Dietrich stayed busy for Calgary as he stopped 35 of the 48 shots he faced.
"(Dietrich) makes big, timely saves," said Roughnecks head coach Troy Cordingly to the Canadian Press after the game. "He's a top-notch goalie." Calgary's win was followed by a 13-6 victory over the Portland LumberJax at home on Saturday night. The loss leaves Portland winless in three games this season. Lewis Ratcliff led the way for Calgary with three goals and four assists, while Derek Malawsky led Portland scoring with two goals and two assists.
"I'm thrilled with the way the team played," said Roughnecks goalie Ryan Avery to Rita Mingo of the Calgary Herald. Mingo also noted that, prior to Saturday's game, Avery had just 1:19 playing time under his belt this season.
In New York on Saturday, the Toronto Rock managed to escape the Big Apple with a 14-10 victory over the Titans. Ryan Benesch had a four goal effort in the game for Toronto, while Jordan Hall had a three goal and three assist outing for New York.
"It seemed like we were a deer in the headlights in the first half," said Toronto netminder Bob Watson to the Canadian Press after the game. "We couldn't get any momentum or find any confidence. Second half, we went on a run and came to life."
In Chicago on Saturday, the Shamrox defeated the winless Edmonton Rush 17-11. Edmonton's Chris Gill had four goals for the Rush, but was outshined by Chicago's four goal and four assist outing by Callum Crawford.
"We scored 11 goals tonight, but as a group offensively we need to have eight to 10 guys scoring multiple points to be successful and we haven't had that," said Rush head coach Paul Day to the Edmonton Sun after the defeat.
In Philadelphia, the Wings, with a goal by Jake Bergey in overtime, got a 15-14 win over the Buffalo Bandits on Saturday to extend their unbeaten record to 3-0. Athan Iannucci had a big game for the Wings, scoring four goals and three assists in the winning effort. Both Mark Steenhuis and Kevin Dostie had four goals and an assist in the loss.
"We had some great chances to win it in regulation," said Bandits head coach Darris Kilgour to The Buffalo News after the loss. "We just couldn't bury our shots when we had to."
A moment of history was also made in the game on Saturday. In what is believed to be the quickest goal scored to start a game in league history, Philadelphia's Geoff Snider scored only five seconds into the game after winning the opening face off.
In Rochester, the defending NLL champion Knighthawks continued their early season struggles by dropping one to the Minnesota Swarm, 18-17, on Saturday night. The win for the Swarm ran their unbeaten record to 3-0, tying them with Philadelphia atop the Eastern Division. Scott Evans led both teams in scoring with a breakout six goal and two assists effort, while Sean Pollock led the scoring for the Swarm with three goals and six assists.
"We were brutal, we stunk, we got booed and we deserved it,"said Rochester head coach Ed Comeau to Sal Maiorana of the Rochester D & C after his team dropped to 1-3 on the season.
Finally, Toronto Rock General Manager Mike Kloepfer insisted after Saturday's win versus New York that the team's commitment to suspended head coach Glenn Clark has not been shaken, according to an article by Andrew Lupton of the National Post.
"Glenn Clark is the head coach of the Toronto Rock," said Kloepfer to Lupton. "Nothing's changed."
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