Ryan Painter and Scott Stewart each scored three goals, but Stewart's third came in overtime, sending the New Jersey Storm to a 12-11 victory over the host Ottawa Rebel Sunday night at the Ottawa Civic Centre.

Stewart’s play tonight earned him Player of the Game honors, but if Painter’s shot late in the fourth quarter had gone in the net, he would have been the Game MVP. He charged the net dove, shot, the ball hit the goal line but it had backspin and bounced away from the mesh.

Mike Benedict scored the first Rebel goal on a power play, after intercepting a Storm pass and breaking down the floor, and Doug Noganash made it 2-0 about four minutes later. The Rebel was playing with a confident look, forcing the Storm to make errant passes and not giving them many scoring opportunities. New Jersey recovered in the last four minutes. Billy Lefeurve scored at 3:56 on a beautiful three-man passing play and Grant Johnson struck at 2:03 on the power play, beating Rebel goaltender Andrew Leyshon with a shot that had a funny bounce, tying the game at two.

Paul Talmo and Dallas Squire gave the Storm a 4-2 lead in the first two minutes of the second quarter. Squire’s goal was another unfortunate one for Leyshon, as he had made a good save but the ball dribbled across the line. With 3:37 left to go in the half, Stunt Man Stu bellowed to the crowd "C’mon, Rebel fans, let’s hear ya," and with that, Matt McLean obliged, getting one back for the Rebel.

It was short lived, though -- Shawn Nadelen popped in one for the Storm just four seconds later to regain the two-goal lead. Play then got a bit sluggish, with the teams not taking any chances and using up the full thirty seconds of possession for the rest of this quarter. Kris Konopliff scored to bring the Rebel within one again, but then Scott Stewart scored one for the Storm with the man advantage due to a delayed penalty call. Billy Lefeuvre got his second of the night with 41 seconds remaining in the third to make it 9-6.

Ryan Painter scored his third of the game just 33 seconds into the fourth quarter, but Grant Johnston got the three-goal lead back 31 seconds later. Then, the Rebel awoke. Mike Benedict scored on a fake-and-deke duel with Matt Panetta at the edge of the crease, Chris Konopoliff scored after getting a pass from Jon Torbell (who had scooped the rebound from Konopliff’s first shot), and Kyle Laverty scored -- tying the game at ten.

The last five minutes of the fourth quarter was exciting defensive lacrosse. Jon Tarbell and Mike Benedict both made excellent checks, and Leyshon made a great save with 1:22 on the clock. New Jersey took the lead with 4:31 to go, on a goal from Dallas Squire, then Dan Marohl tied it up at 3:51 on a sharp pass from Mike Benedict. The ball went in the net with two seconds left on the shot clock. Play was definitely not sluggish now. To overtime, we go.

The action started right away in the overtime period. Brad Reed got a one-on-one opportunity early in and beared down on Kyle Laverty (a big size difference here), but Laverty stood his ground. They crashed hard, right at the top of the crease and the ball went loose. A few more changes of possession and Stewart scored the game winner after only 1:18 of overtime, but the way the teams played, it seemed like an hour of great play.

A disappointing loss at home for the Rebel after winning on the road in its last two games, including a night ago at New York. A crowd of 6,536 fans attended the game and nearly everyone stayed to the end of the game. They saw a much improved team effort and will be back to support the Rebel next year.

BOX SUMMARY
                                   1  2  3  4 OT     TOT
New Jersey Storm (5-11)            2  2  5  2  1  --  12
Otttawa Rebel (4-12)               2  2  2  5  0  --  11

NEW JERSEY STORM              OTTAWA REBEL
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
LeFeurve       2 - 3     5    Benedict       2 - 2     4
Johnston       3 - 1     4    Painter        3 - 0     3
Stewart        3 - 1     4    Konopliff      2 - 1     3
D Squire       2 - 2     4    Marohl         1 - 2     3
Talmo          1 - 1     2    Evans          1 - 1     2
Ca Bomberry    0 - 2     2    Noganash       1 - 1     2
Hanford        0 - 2     2    Tarbell        0 - 2     2
Nadelen        1 - 0     1    McLean         1 - 0     1
Bendig         0 - 1     1    A Guindon      0 - 1     1
Panetta        0 - 1     1    Hill           0 - 1     1
Reed           0 - 1     1    Leyshon        0 - 1     1
                              Raffan         0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           57    Shots on goal           60
Saves made by           49    Saves made by           45
   Roik              49          Leyshon           45
Penalties               12    Penalties                9
Penalty Minutes         27    Penalty Minutes         21
Power Play Chances       4    Power Play Chances       7
Power Play Goals         2    Power Play Goals         4
   Johnston           1          Painter            2
   Talmo              1          Benedict           1
                                 Evans              1
Shorthanded Goals        1    Shorthanded Goals        0
   D Squire           1          (None)
Loose Balls             84    Loose Balls             72
   Nadelen           10          Serr               8
   Bendig             8          Tarbell            8
   Purdie             8          Noganash           7
                                 Painter            7
Faceoffs Won            12    Faceoffs Won            17
   Hanford      (12-17)          McLean       (17-12)

   *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH OTTAWA REBEL ***