The preseason games have officially gotten underway for the Minnesota Swarm. The Swarm took on the Colorado Mammoth in Oakville, ON last night, Dec. 6th, and came out with the 14-10 win. The Swarm only dressed 18 runners in the game and treated the game as they would any regular season game. Jordan MacIntosh led the way for the Swarm with the hat trick. Shayne Jackson, Kiel Matisz, and rookie Logan Schuss all had two goals in the contest.
The Swarm also split the game between goaltenders Tyler Carlson and Zach Higgins. Carlson allowed four goals in the first half while Higgins allowed six in the second. Both played well and most likely one will sit for tonight’s game against the Rochester Knighthawks to give Ryan Masters a chance to show his stuff.
This win was the first in the last six preseason games. The last preseason win for the Swarm was back on Dec. 11th 2010 against the Philadelphia Wings.
The Swarm will be taking on the Rochester Knighthawks tonight in Rochester. The game is going to be broadcasted on TLN’s YouTube stream at 8pm est.
The last time these two teams played was in the last year’s playoffs. The game propelled the Knighthawks into the Finals and eventually a second straight NLL Championship. The Swarm is a different looking team this year though, with fresh new faces and a new dynamic offense, the game will most likely be another dog fight.
Players that will need to be watched tonight will be whoever is in net for the Swarm, last night Carlson got the start and Higgins took over in the second half. Tonight will most likely see Masters in for Higgins but the Swarm coaches could throw him in instead of Carlson. Another player to watch will need to be number one overall pick Logan Schuss. He netted two goals against the Mammoth and tonight could give fans a glimpse at how consistent he might be this coming season.
The Swarm have a tough match up tonight and will have to come out firing on all cylinders from the first faceoff.
