The Minnesota Swarm professional lacrosse team opens its fifth season on the road tonight in Portland. Of the Swarm's 23-man roster, 16 players were with Minnesota a year ago when it advanced to the National Lacrosse League playoffs for the third consecutive season. But it is a bit of a new look this winter.
In addition to losing leading scorer Andy Secore (76 points) to Edmonton in the offseason, Minnesota was moved to the NLL West Division as a part of league realignment, meaning it will get a fresh look at some teams.
"I think we can make it a good thing for us," Swarm coach Duane Jacobs said. "It was a bit of a surprise; I thought we'd be staying [in the East], but when you look at it geographically, it makes sense. You might even say the move to the West will make things easier this season."
Jacobs said he thinks the switch will benefit the Swarm. "We match up well with all of the West teams," he said.
Tonight's opener is against a LumberJax team that won the West last season despite a 6-10 regular season. The East Division's fourth-seeded playoff team --Philadelphia -- was 10-6. Traditionally, the East has been the league's stronger division.¶ The team comes into the season fit and ready to compete. " We bring back the core of our team from last year, and that's a statement in itself," Jacobs said. "We're bigger offensively, we have some speed and we are good to go in goal." Last season: The Swarm (10-7) fizzled out after getting to the playoffs, scoring just eight goals in its lone postseason game after averaging 12.4 per game. It was still a successful season; the team set a franchise record with 10 victories and had NLL Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Cousins and NLL Rookie of the Year Craig Point.
Minnesota connections: Forward Colin Achenbach, a Burnsville native, is back with the Swarm for a third season. He scored six points in eight games played last season. In addition, forwards Ryan Ward and Sean Pollock call Minnesota home year-round.
New players: The Swarm selected defenseman Kevin Fines in the Chicago dispersal draft. In the NLL entry draft, Minnesota selected forwards Kevin Buchanan and Andrew Watt and defenseman Joe Cinosky. Also, defenseman Riley Kemp is back after missing all of last season because of injury.
New management: The Swarm was purchased by John J. Arlotta in July. Arlotta is a longtime lacrosse supporter. A 1971 graduate of Notre Dame, Arlotta and his wife, Bobbi, pledged the lead gift for a $5 million men's and women's lacrosse stadium for Notre Dame. It will be called Arlotta Stadium. Arlotta's son, Andy, is a part-owner of the Swarm.
The schedule: Minnesota's home opener is Jan. 10 against San Jose. It plays three more games at Xcel Energy Center, culminating Feb. 20 against Boston, an expansion team this season, but then does not play at home until closing the regular season with four consecutive games between March 28 and April 18. Minnesota set a franchise record last season by averaging 11,405 fans per home game.
