Minnesota Swarm @ Rochester Knighthawks Game Recap

The Swarm fell to the defending champs, the Rochester Knighthawks, last night in Rochester, NY.   The final score was 6-8, and aside from a slow start by the Swarm, until the latter half of the 4th quarter, things were very back and forth between the two teams.

Tyler Hass had the lead in goals for the team with 2, while Callum Crawford led in points with 3 (1g, 2a).   Kiel Matisz and Logan Schuss each had a goal and an assist.    Andrew Suitor's first goal in his return was disallowed due ti a crease violation by Shayne Jackson.   Jackson did redeem himself, however, by scoring a goal.

The Swarm had trouble solving Matt Vinc.   They put 51 shots on him throughout the night, and he was prepared and expecting all but 6 of them.   Suitor's disallowed goal was a bit flukey.   Postgame, Head Coach Joe Sullivan had this to say: We took lots of shots, but they were the shots that Vinc wanted.  We didn't play to our strengths in shooting down the middle.  Instead we shot down the sides and wings, which played right into his angles."   Matt Vinc has been the NLL goaltender of the year for the past 3 years.   This is part of the reason why.   He knows how to prepare for what gets thrown at him, and doesn't have a lot of weak angles.

Dan Dawson was another headache for the Swarm.   The forward had 6 points on the night (2g 4a).   Add that to the strong play of Joel McCready and Johnny Powless, and it was really just a handful of Rochester players that created havoc for the Swarm.   There were also points scored by Cody Jamieson and Joe Walters.

It was good to see Logan Schuss get on the board, as well as see Suitor score his first goal in 8 months, even if it didn't count.   Scott Jones also had an assist.  Crawford is picking up right where he left off last season.

And our player to watch, Jordan MacIntosh:  He had 2 assists on the night.  He had a total of 6 shots, 2 on goal, 4 off.   Picked up 5 loose balls, and took 17 faceoffs, winning 5 of them for a 29.4% success rate.   MacIntosh was very involved in the play, had some nice chances and definitely helped make those around him look good.

Next game is January 11th at 9 PM in Vancouver.  See you then!