Once again, the Minnesota Swarm proved to be the better team through three quarters in NLL competition, but unlike the first two games, Minnesota prevented a fourth quarter collapse to come away with a 15-14 win over the Washington Stealth Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota (1-2) extended their streak of at least one rookie scoring a hat trick to three games, with both Shayne Jackson and Kiel Matisz scoring three goals.
"We've been there too many times, so we knew what to do (and) not blow it," Jackson said.
"All we're trying to do is be a part of the team and do what our coaching staff asks of us. Shayne and I were on the receiving end, contributing for the team." Matisz said.
Veteran forward Ryan Benesch also finished with a hat trick, notching three goals in the second quarter. He added four assists to finish with seven points to lead the Swarm.
Washington (3-2) also had three players with hat tricks, coming from Rhys Duch, Athan Iannucci and Lewis Ratcliff. Both Duch and Ratcliff recorded five assists, equaling eight points.
Minnesota's lead remained intact thanks to a 5-0 run to start the second quarter, turning a 4-3 deficit to an 8-4 lead.
"We were awful in the first half," said Washington head coach Chris Hall. " Making bad passes, not cashing on good opportunities. The offense buried us."
The margin hovered around four until the fourth quarter, when Washington out-scored Minnesota 4-1. The Stealth increased their aggression that period, getting 20 shots on goal while holding the Swarm to six.
Iannucci earned three of Washington's goals in the fourth, including a score with 42 seconds remaining to trim Minnesota's lead to one. The Swarm's defense proved too valiant, burning 16 seconds in a face-off that was replayed because of no clear winner.
Washington won the next face-off, then called a timeout to pull their goalie with 16 seconds on the clock, but Minnesota's defense interfered from getting off a clean look. The Swarm scooped the ball with 5.2 seconds left, effectively ending the game.
"In one-goal games, I would expect that we should get at least a good shot on goal, and we didn't," Hall said.
Second-year goalie Evan Kirk helped Minnesota withstand the charge, finishing with 44 saves for the game.
The Swarm return to the road next Saturday, when they face the Colorado Mammoth.
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