The Swarm goes down swinging, but the result is more frustration

The team missed an opportunity to take a key step, suffering a loss that cost it a chance at a home title game.

By MYRON P. MEDCALF, Star Tribune

Last update: May 3, 2008 - 11:11 PM

At the end of the third quarter, a fight broke out between the Minnesota Swarm and New York Titans during an East Division semifinal playoff game Saturday. But Swarm players weren't just throwing blows for pride's sake in an 11-8 loss that ended their season.

With two playoff victories, the Swarm might have earned an opportunity to host a nationally televised National Lacrosse League championship game at the Xcel Energy Center.

"We're really looking at this as an opportunity to showcase what we're doing here with the Swarm," team president Tom Garrity said last week. "It's been building up to this point."

But during the team's first-ever home playoff game, the Titans scored three unanswered goals in the final four minutes, 20 seconds of the game to seal it. The Swarm beat the Titans twice this season.

"It's an opportunity that slipped away," Swarm head coach Duane Jacobs said.

The Swarm battled in a back-and-forth match that included seven ties. But down the stretch, Swarm players fumbled loose balls and blew breakaway opportunities.

But in spite of the mistakes, Sean Pollock scored and tied the score 8-8 at the 5:48 mark of the fourth quarter. The Titans stormed back with three goals in a little less than two minutes. Each successful shot appeared to rock the confidence and groove of a Swarm squad that tied for the league lead with a 10-6 record during the regular season.

The team also lost the energy of the announced crowd of 11,088, which featured middle-aged men sporting goalie masks.

After three consecutive seasons of first-round playoff exits -- the Swarm lost to the Buffalo Bandits in the playoffs the past two seasons -- goalie Nick Patterson, who had 33 saves Saturday, said the Swarm's early departures might be more psychological than physical.

"I don't know if it's starting to be a mental thing," he said.

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