Before the teams took the field, most observers believed that the Albany Attack would have its way with the expansion New Jersey Storm. After two Mike Regan goals in the first three minutes led to a 7-1 Attack lead after ten minutes, that prediction seemed accurate. However, the first-year Storm showed a scoring punch many thought they lacked, and pushed the Attack to the wire before finally falling, 20-16, in front of 4,608 fans Friday night at the Pepsi Arena in downtown Albany.

Matt Roik began the night in the net for the Storm tonight, the first game of the NLL's sixteenth season, but after only five minutes of game time, six goals had found their way past Roik and his night was over. Derek General relieved Roik, and his play allowed the Storm to creep back into contention. After Mike Ladouceur scored for Albany to give the Attack its 7-1 lead, Jamie Hanford, Travis Kilgour, and Clayton Barnes all tallied quickly for New Jersey to bring the game back to 7-4.

Regan, named the game's MVP for his hot stick, would not allow the momentum to change hands for long. He ended the first quarter with a shorthanded goal, and began the second quarter with his fourth of the night, ballooning the Attack lead back to five. The two teams traded runs -- a two-goal spurt by the Storm's Jordy Guindon and Bill LeFeuvre was answered by a run of six goals out of seven for the Attack, giving the home team its largest lead of the game at 15-7 just nineteen seconds into the third quarter.

The second half was the better half, defensively, especially for the Storm. After getting torched for fourteen goals on 36 shots in the first two quarters, the Storm allowed only six on 29 shots in the latter half. This defensive stand allowed them to get back to within three goals, at 19-16, with just over five minutes to go in the game, but Attack goaltender Rob Blasdell shut the door the rest of the way.

Josh Sanderson lead the way for the Attack, with one goal and seven assists for eight points. Matt Panetta paced the Storm with a hat trick, plus two assists.

The Attack's next game is in Rochester, next Saturday, while the Storm has a week off before hosting the Saints on Friday, 30 November.

The one remaining unanswered question is whether the goal-scoring binge of the season's debut game was from poor execution on defense or due to the wider nets (4'9" across instead of 4'6"). More goals were scored from outside in this game than I have seen in a while. What this means when two offensive powerhouses get together -- such as next week's meeting between the Washington Power and Buffalo Bandits -- will go a long way in determining the success of the rule change.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
New Jersey Storm (0-1)                4  3  4  5  --  16
Albany Attack (1-0)                   8  6  3  3  --  20

NEW JERSEY STORM              ALBANY ATTACK
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Ca Bomberry    2 - 5     7    J Sanderson    1 - 7     8
Panetta        3 - 2     5    Teat           4 - 3     7
T Kilgour      2 - 3     5    Regan          5 - 0     5
Barnes         2 - 2     4    Woods          2 - 3     5
D Squire       1 - 3     4    Blasdell       0 - 4     4
Stewart        1 - 3     4    Trudeau        2 - 1     3
Hanford        3 - 0     3    Beisel         0 - 3     3
J Guindon      1 - 2     3    P Sanderson    0 - 3     3
Johnston       0 - 3     3    Ladouceur      2 - 1     3
LeFeuvre       1 - 1     2    Rosyski        2 - 0     2
B Miller       0 - 2     2    Moss           1 - 0     1
                              Santos         1 - 0     1
                              Grimoldby      0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           58    Shots on goal           65
Saves made by (GA)      45    Saves made by (GA)      42
   General (14)      40          Blasdell (16)     42
   Roik (6)           5
Penalties                9    Penalties               16
Penalty Minutes         18    Penalty Minutes         32
Power Play Chances      10    Power Play Chances       5
Power Play Goals         6    Power Play Goals         3

   *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH NLL WEB SITE ***