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**truebluefan** · 02-22-2008, 12:43 PM

Rochester's John Grant was named both the Overall Player and Offensive Player of the Week after scoring four goals and six assists in the Knighthawks' 15-12 win over the Calgary Roughnecks on Saturday at Blue Cross Arena. The 33-year-old left-hander recorded his 750th career point at 11:22 of the first quarter, assisting on a Scott Evans goal to give the Knighthawks a 5-1 lead. The 10 points were a season-high for Grant.

New York's Jordan Hall was named Rookie of the Week for the second time this season. The 23-year-old left-hander scored three goals and three assists in the Titans' 14-9 win over the Chicago Shamrox at Sears Centre on Saturday. Hall was selected by the Titans out of University of Delaware with the first overall pick in the 2007 Entry Draft.

Portland's Brodie Merrill was named Transition Player of the Week. The 26-year-old left-hander scored three goals in Portland's 14-8 win over the Edmonton Rush at Rose Garden on Sunday. The 2006 Rookie of the Year also added an assist and 10 loose balls for the LumberJax.

Toronto's Bob Watson was named Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. The 37-year-old goaltender allowed just eight goals, recording 45 saves and an assist in Toronto's 11-8 win over the Buffalo Bandits on Friday at Air Canada Centre.

Week 8 Results

Friday, February 15

Philadelphia 15 at Colorado 13

Buffalo 8 at Toronto 11

Saturday, February 16

New York 14 at Chicago 9

Minnesota 14 at Buffalo 16

Calgary 12 at Rochester 15

Sunday, February 17

Edmonton 8 at Portland 14

The Weekly Player Awards are determined by a vote of the General Managers and Head Coaches of the league's 12 teams.

**truebluefan** · 02-25-2008, 07:54 PM

EDMONTON, Alta. - On the strength of a five-goal fourth quarter run, the San Jose Stealth rallied past the Edmonton Rush 11-8 in the National Lacrosse League Feb. 23 in front of 9,032 fans at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Stealth win pushed its record to 4-3 on the campaign, while the Rush fell to 0-6.

Colin Doyle led San Jose with four goals and two assists, while Luke Wiles had two goals and three assists for five points. Mike Accursi had two goals and two assists for four points for the Rush, while Dan Stroup fired two goals for Edmonton.

This was the first of three meetings between West Division rivals San Jose and Edmonton and the first game behind the Edmonton bench for Bob Hamley -- the new Rush coach and general manager - who's debut was spoiled by a gutsy effort of San Jose.

A seven-goal second half effort by the Stealth, especially five goals in the fourth quarter, led San Jose to the victory.

"I though it was a character win and something we've been working on," said Stealth head coach Walt Christianson. "You have to win the one-goal games. Cosmo was outstanding and I thought our defense was outstanding in the third and fourth quarters. It was a great character win for us."

Doyle opened the scoring for San Jose at 2:13 of the first quarter with a power-play shot from 53-feet over the left shoulder of Disher.

The Rush tied the game 1-1 on a crease scramble that saw Stealth forward Curtis Hodgson direct the ball into his own net. Edmonton's Kyle Goundrey was credited with the Rush tally.

Dan Stroup put Edmonton up 2-1 with a right-handed blast at 14:34, with assists from Goundrey and Darren Hillier.

The Stealth tied the game 2-2 just 28 seconds into the second quarter as Luke Wiles fought off an Edmonton defender and fired a goal past Disher, before Kevin Olson's first goal of the season, a power-play tally, lifted Edmonton up 3-2 at 2:57.

Edmonton went up 4-2 at 4:17 as Mike Grimes, off a long pass dished out by Disher, tallied his first of the year, before San Jose closed to 4-3 on Doyle's second of the night at 6:34.

Edmonton then fired two quick goals as markers by Mike Accursi at 6:43 and Chris McElroy at 7:30 put the Rush up 6-3, chasing goaltender Bold from the San Jose net. Anthony Cosmo came in relief for Bold.

Kyle Sorensen of the Stealth closed out the scoring in the first half with a right-handed shot on a nice feed by Hodgson, making the score 6-4.

San Jose outshot Edmonton 26-20 in the half.

Doyle completed his hat-trick with a power play goal from 39-feet at 2:36 of the third quarter to close the score to 6-5 for Edmonton, before the Rush took advantage of a five-against-three power-play as Stroup ripped his second of the night at 10:21 putting Edmonton up 7-5.

San Jose's Steve Panarelli outfoxed Disher with a one-handed tally from behind Edmonton's net to close within 7-6 at 12:24 and then the Stealth held off another Edmonton five-against-three to close out the quarter.

Wiles completed a three-way pass play at 2:23 of the fourth quarter to tie the score 7-7, before Frank Resetarits gave San Jose the lead with a one-hopper past Disher at 4:57.

Edmonton rallied back to tie the score 8-8 on Accursi's second goal of the contest at 5:56, before Jeff Zywicki's marker just 22 seconds later put San Jose back up 9-8.

The Stealth then continued the run with another Zywicki goal at 11:28 and Doyle's fourth of the contest, at 12:22, lifted the Stealth to the 11-8 victory.

The Rush next travel to Portland March 1 to tangle the LumberJax, while the Stealth's next action is March 8 at the Colorado Mammoth.

**truebluefan** · 02-25-2008, 07:55 PM

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.- Last week on February 16 against New York the Chicago Shamrox fell behind 10-1 and could not overcome the initial deficit and fell to the Titans.

On Sunday afternoon the Buffalo Bandits scored seven of the games first eight goals in similar fashion and upended the Shamrox 13-8 in National Lacrosse League action at the Sears Centre.

Buffalo forward Cory Bomberry began the scoring when he fired a shot past Chicago Shamrox goaltender Brandon Miller within the games first 1:30. Thirty seconds later Bandits' Dan Teat made it 2-0 Buffalo.

Mark Steenhuis provided the highlights for Buffalo's offense. He pulled down a long over-the-shoulder pass, and with a two-on-one breakaway, Steenhuis dished off a behind-the-back pass to Teat who scored the third goal of the game. The Bandits scored the game?s first six goals.

"The whole team, we're starting in a hole and it's tough," said backup goaltender Derek Collins who replaced Brandon Miller after the first quarter. "The last couple games, it just takes a little time to settle everyone down."

Chris Panos got Chicago's offense going with the Shamrox first goal midway through the first quarter. Buffalo's relentless offense came back, however, and the Bandits took an 8-2 lead into the second quarter.

"We're just not coming out ready to play," Panos said. "I don't know what it is, the coaches talk about it all the time, we're just not executing."

After Buffalo's initial surge, the offensive fireworks settled down and the defense settled in.

Chicago forward Callum Crawford was the only player to score in the second quarter. His goal made the score 8-3 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Buffalo's Ian Llord had to serve a ten minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Mat Giles took advantage and scored Chicago's second unanswered goal to make the score 8-4 after nearly 15 scoreless minutes by both teams.

Buffalo ended the quarter with consecutive goals by former Shamrock Rusty Kruger and John Tavares off a power play, respectively, but similar to last week's game against New York, the Shamrox offense came alive in the fourth quarter to close the gap.

Giles added two more goals in the fourth quarter and then with 10:35 remaining in the quarter, Chicago forward Chris Panos scored his 200 career goal in the National Lacrosse League. Panos became the 31st player in NLL history to reach the milestone and in the process Panos to cut the score to 11-7.

"I've played with great players throughout my career," Panos said. "Unfortunatley we were unable to get the win, but this is definitely a day I am going to remember personally, only 30 players have (scored 200 goals) and it?s a tribute to my hard work and dedication."

Panos finished the day with six points off two goals and four assists. Mat Giles scored four goals for the Shamrox. Steenhuis recored seven assists to go along with two goals for Buffalo. Tavares and Bomberry each had two goals and three assits also.

The Shamrox return home on Saturday March 1 to face off against the Rochester Knighthawks at 7:00 p.m. The Buffalo Bandits next game is also on March 1 at home against the Philadelphia Wings.

**truebluefan** · 02-25-2008, 07:55 PM

CALGARY, Alberta - The Colorado Mammoth scored five consecutive goals to end the game on Sunday afternoon, but it wasn't enough to overtake the Calgary Roughnecks. After dominating the second and third quarters, the Roughnecks held on for a 12-9 victory before 10,203 fans at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

The Mammoth lost its second straight game, falling to 5-2 but remaining in first place of the National Lacrosse League's West Division. Calgary improved to 3-5 and moved into a tie for third place in the West.

Gavin Prout, who led the Mammoth with four points (two goals, two assists), scored the game's first goal and Tom Ethington made it 2-0 for the visiting team midway through the first quarter. Calgary went on score 12 of the next 14 goals, including a pair of three-goal runs on either side of halftime that helped put the game out of reach.

Chris Levis took the loss in goal for the Mammoth, saving 42 of 54 shots. Pat Campbell made 25 saves to earn the victory for Calgary, while Nolan Heavenor and Lewis Ratcliff led the Roughnecks with three goals apiece.

**truebluefan** · 02-25-2008, 07:56 PM

CALGARY - Message sent. Message received.

With Kaleb Toth and Devan Wray noticeably absent from the lineup, the Calgary Roughnecks (3-5) ran to a 12-9 win over the Colorado Mammoth (5-2) Sunday afternoon at the Pengrowth Saddledome in front of 10,203 appreciative fans.

Head coach Troy Cordingley opted to bench Toth, Wray and rookie Dane Dobbie for the game against the West-Division-leading Mammoth following a 13-9 loss on Friday night in Portland against the LumberJax (3-5).

The Roughnecks responded by playing a gritty game against the talented Mammoth. The Riggers came out hitting hard and with more emotion that they've shown while suffering through a three-game losing streak.

"We're trying to push the physical pace a bit," said defenceman Andrew McBride after the first half with the Roughnecks leading 5-3 and oushooting the Mammoth 27-13. "Hopefully we can keep it up in the second half."

That's exactly what the Riggers did as they built up a 10-4 lead through three quarters on the way to an important victory over Colorado to avenge a season-opening 10-9 loss on the road in Denver on Dec. 29.

Nolan Heavenor and Lewis Ratcliff notched hat tricks and added one assist each during the onslaught. Ratcliff's second goal of the game was the 200th of his six-year career.

"The defence was unbelievable and the offence, we got the job done enough to win," Ratcliff told Shaw TV after the contest.

Heavenor played a great game as he won 16 of 24 faceoffs and picked up 15 loose balls throughout the contest.

Scott Ranger scored twice and set up three others, while Curt Malawsky also had a good game with five assists. Jeff Shattler (2g, 1a) and Kelly Hall (3a) also had multiple-point efforts, while Chris Seller and Jeff Moleski each scored once.

Playing in just his second career game, Scott Carnegie assisted on two Roughneck goals for his first NLL points. In his second start as a Roughneck, goalie Pat 'Paddy' Campbell made 25 saves for his first victory of the season.

Since being acquired in the off-season from Arizona in the dispersal draft, Bruce Codd has played well for the Roughnecks on defence and Sunday was no different as the nine-year veteran battled hard all game and finished with nine loose balls.

Gavin Prout led the way for the Mammoth with two goals and two helpers, while Dylan Llord and Jordan Cornfield also scored twice each. Dan Carey scored once and set up two others, while Tom Ethington and Jamie Shewchuk also scored.

Colorado goalie Chris Levis was busy in between the pipes, stopping 42 of the 54 shots he faced.

Next weekend, the Roughnecks head to Toronto to face the Rock on Saturday, March 1 (5 p.m.).

Catch the game live on B2 Networks, find their link on the Roughnecks home page calgaryroughnecks.com: Home.

**truebluefan** · 02-25-2008, 07:56 PM

BUFFALO, N.Y. --The National Lacrosse League announced today that Buffalo Bandits forwards John Tavares and Mark Steenhuis will start for the Eastern Division at the 2008 NLL All-Star Game on Sunday, March 16 in Edmonton. In addition, Bandits head coach Darris Kilgour will be behind the East Bench as an assistant coach.

Tavares, the NLL's all-time leading scorer, will be making his seventh All-Star appearance. Steenhuis will be making his fourth All-Star appearance. He was named MVP of both the 2004 and 2007 National Lacrosse League All-Star Games, becoming the first player in NLL history to be named MVP of two All-Star Games, scoring six times in each outing

Tavares leads the NLL with 49 points on 17 goals and 32 assists through nine games,. Earlier this season, Tavares became the first player in NLL history to reach the 597 goals breaking Gary Gait's all-time record of 596 career goals. Steenhuis is second on Buffalo in scoring with 46 points on 20 goals and 26 assists, making his third in the league.

The East and West Division starting lineups were determined by the combined votes of the league's general managers, league media, and fans, who voted online at the league's official website, NLL.com -- Official Website of the National Lacrosse League - Home.

The East Division All-Stars will be coached by Rochester Knighthawks head coach Ed Comeau, who will be assisted by Buffalo Bandits head coach Darris Kilgour. The All-Star Game Coaches were determined by team finishing order in the 2007 NLL Playoffs.

The game will be played at the Rose Garden in Edmonton at 4 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 16.

**truebluefan** · 02-25-2008, 07:57 PM

PORTLAND - Portland LumberJax defenseman Brodie Merrill has been named a starter in the 2008 National Lacrosse League All-Star Team, as announced by the league today. Merrill will be joined by forward Jeff Zywicki of the San Jose Stealth, forwards Dan Carey and Gavin Prout of the Colorado Mammoth, defenseman Eric Martin of San Jose and goalie Gee Nash of Colorado as starters for the West Division. The NLL's eighth All-Star Game will be held at Rexall Place in Edmonton on Sunday, March 16 at 1 p.m.

Now a three-time All-Star, Merrill was selected to last year's All-Star team, but was unable to play due to injury. In 2006, Merrill added an assist and collected 13 loose balls as the West edged the East, 14-13.

"I believe Brodie is the most complete lacrosse player in the NLL," said Head Coach/General Manager Derek Keenan. "Every game we assign him to check our opponent's top offensive players and he responds by completely disrupting their offense."

Arguably the league's top defenseman, Merrill leads the league with 97 loose balls collected. He's also amassed 18 points on nine goals and nine assists through the first eight games for the Jax (3-5). Last weekend, Merrill collected his 500th career loose ball and scored five points (two goals, three assists) as Portland rolled to its second straight win, defeating the Calgary Roughnecks 13-9.

"Fans across the league - and in particular here in Portland - understand that he's not only an All-Star, but a Most Valuable Player candidate," added Keenan.

Voting was determined by a combination of fan, league media, and GM/Head Coaches. Reserves will be selected by each All-Star coach and will be announced later this week. Each All-Star team will have 18 players, which includes 16 runners and two goalies. All of the league's 12 member clubs will be represented by at least one of their players in the All-Star Game.

**truebluefan** · 02-25-2008, 07:57 PM

Wings' forward Athan Iannucci was chosen as part of the starting lineup for the 2008 NLL East Division All-Star Team. Iannucci, a second year forward, currently leads NLL in goal scoring with 25 and leads in number of points per game with 7.2. The 2008 NLL All-Star Game will be played on Sunday, March 16 at Rexall Place at 4 pm EST in Edmonton, Alberta.

"I am grateful that the fans felt that I was worthy of starting in the All-Star Game," said Iannucci, who will make is first All-Star appearance. "I am looking forward to the game because I think it is going to be a lot of fun to play along side and against the best players this league has to offer."

Iannucci will join Buffalo forward John Tavares and transition player Mark Steenhuis; Rochester forward John Grant; Minnesota defender Ryan Cousins and goalie Nick Patterson in the starting line up of the East Division squad. The starters were determined by a combination of fan voting, team General Managers/Head Coaches voting, and league media voting. Each accounted for one-third of the total vote for the starting lineups.

Iannucci has recorded 36 points (25G 11A) and collected 49 loose balls through the first five games of 2008. The Hofstra University graduate has scored the game-winning goal in each of the Wings last two games versus Colorado and Minnesota. He was selected by the Wings in the first round (eighth overall) in the 2006 NLL Entry Draft.

The Wings face the New York Titans in their next home game at Wachovia Center on Friday, February 29 at 8:00 p.m. Great seats are still available and can be purchased by visiting Official site of the Philadelphia Wings - Wings or at the Wachovia Complex Box Office. Party Packs, which include four tickets, four hot dogs, and four sodas, are just $68 and are great way to enjoy Wings lacrosse with family and friends. Party Packs are available at wingslax.com or by calling (215) 389-WING (9464).

**truebluefan** · 02-25-2008, 07:58 PM

SAINT PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Minnesota Swarm G Nick Patterson and D Ryan Cousins have been named starters for the 2008 National Lacrosse League (NLL) All-Star Game, which takes place on Sunday, March 16th at 3 p.m. (ct) at Rexall Place in Edmonton. The pair has helped lead the Swarm to a 6-2 record, just ½ game behind Philadelphia (5-0) for first place in the East Division.

Patterson, 25 (12/8/82), leads the NLL in saves (327) and wins (6). He is 6-2 with a 12.52 GAA and a .768 SV Pct. in eight appearances this season. Patterson was named NLL Defensive Player of the Week after allowing just four goals on 44 shots against Toronto on Jan. 12. The Vancouver, B.C., native was a NLL Second Team All-Pro selection in 2007 for the second straight season. He is making his first NLL All-Star Game appearance.

Cousins, 26 (4/1/81), makes his fourth All-Star appearance. Cousins has two overtime game-winners among his seven goals and 11 points. The Toronto, Ont., native posted a career-high three goals Jan. 26 at Rochester. Cousins set single season highs in goals (9), assists (14) and points (23) in 2007, while earning NLL Defensive Player of the Year honors.

The remaining 12 reserve players on each All-Star team will be named later this week.

Minnesota is idle this weekend but returns to action when the Swarm travels to Buffalo again to take on the Bandits on March 8 at HSBC Arena. The Swarm returns home to Xcel Energy Center on Friday, March 14, against the Chicago Shamrox at 7:00 p.m. Call 888-MNSWARM or log onto mnswarm.com for ticket information.

**truebluefan** · 02-25-2008, 07:58 PM

DENVER - The National Lacrosse League announced Monday that Colorado Mammoth forwards Dan Carey and Gavin Prout, and goaltender Gee Nash have been selected for the starting lineup of the West Division All-Star team.

The 2008 NLL All-Star Game will be played at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, on Sunday, March 16 at 2 p.m. Mountain time.

Carey, an All-Star in each of his three seasons in the NLL, will make his second consecutive appearance in the starting lineup. He leads the Mammoth with 17 goals.

Nash will make his fourth All-Star appearance in five years and second start. He leads the NLL with a 10.10 goals-against average and is tied for fifth with a .768 save percentage.

Prout will make his fifth consecutive appearance in the All-Star Game and third start. He leads the NLL with 34 assists and leads the Mammoth with 43 points.

"I'm very excited for these guys," Mammoth general manager Steve Govett said. "They are the leaders of our team and have shown what it takes to compete with the best in the league."

Carey, Nash and Prout will join forward Jeff Zywicki and defenseman Eric Martin of the San Jose Stealth, and Portland LumberJax transition player Brodie Merrill as starters for the West.

The West and East Division All-Star teams were determined by the combined votes of the league's general managers and head coaches, league media, and fans, who voted online.

The West Division All-Stars will be coached by Edmonton Rush coach Bob Hamley with Stealth coach Walt Christianson serving as his assistant. The East Division All-Stars will be coached by Rochester Knighthawks coach Ed Comeau with Buffalo Bandits coach Darris Kilgour serving as his assistant. The four All-Star Game coaches are the head coaches who led their teams to the Division Finals last season.

The 12 reserves for the West and East teams will be announced later this week.

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