The New York Saints finished a disappointing season on a positive note, defeating the New Jersey Storm, 13-11, Saturday night in front of 5,847 fans at the Nassau Coliseum.

The Saints jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, and fought off a late NJ run to hold on to the victory.

Thirty-one seconds into the game, Matt Shearer scored on a pass from Bryan Bendig, and the Saints never relinquished the lead. Gavin Prout, Nick Carlson, Dan Paccione and Chris Panos all scored to give New York a 5-0 lead before Paul Talmo caught the Saints on transition and finally put the ball past Gee Nash with only 57 seconds left in the quarter.

The teams traded goals to start the second, with power play goals from Mike Ladouceur and Steve Sombrotto from New Jersey and two goals from Panos. Doug Shanahan beat Storm netminder Derek General on a breakaway goal to put New York up 8-3 as the teams headed to the locker room.

Matt Roik played the second half for New Jersey, and was greeted by Chad Culp just 1:20 into the second half. Marc Morley answer back minutes later, scoring a goal on a beautiful pass from Roy Colsey. Panos scored a power play marker a minute later, and Bendig followed it up to give the Saints an 11-4 lead.

The Storm answered back on the power play, with Mike Ladouceur and Morley scoring man-up goals a minute apart. Both goals were assisted by Colsey and Scott Stewart. Chad Culp scored what would later be the game-winner to round out the third quarter.

With the Saints leading 12-6, the game was all but over. Déjà vu nearly hit for the Storm, as it scored five goals in a three-minute span to cut the Saints' lead to a goal (very much like the "Miracle Minute" in Rochester during the opening weekend of the season). Neal Powless, Ladouceur, Brian O'Keefe, Colsey, and Morley all scored to cut the Saints' lead to 12-11 with just over six minutes to play.

New Jersey built a lot of momentum, and it appeared the Storm would take the lead, but strong defense and stellar goaltending by Nash kept the Saints lead intact. Prout sealed it with a power play goal with 89 seconds remaining.

Panos led the Saints with four goals and an assist, while Prout had the most points, seven, on two goals and five assists. Matt Shearer had a goal and four assists as well. Nash was amazing in goal, recording 50 saves.

Morley led the Storm with three goals and two assists, while Ladouceur matched the hat trick and added an assist. Colsey had a goal and four assists, and General and Roik combined for 44 saves.

The win improves New York's record to 3-13, and drops New Jersey to 3-12. With a loss tomorrow, the Storm will tie the Saints at 3-13 at the bottom of the NLL standings.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
New Jersey Storm (3-12)               1  2  3  5  --  11
New York Saints (3-13)                5  3  4  1  --  13

NEW JERSEY STORM              NEW YORK SAINTS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Morley         3 - 2     5    Prout          2 - 5     7
Colsey         1 - 4     5    Panos          4 - 1     5
M Ladouceur    3 - 1     4    Shearer        1 - 4     5
Sombrotto      1 - 3     4    Culp           2 - 2     4
O'Keefe        1 - 1     2    Bendig         1 - 2     3
N Powless      1 - 1     2    Shanahan       1 - 1     2
Stewart        0 - 2     2    Paccione       1 - 1     2
Talmo          1 - 0     1    Carlson        1 - 0     1
Little         0 - 1     1    Saccone        0 - 1     1
Roik           0 - 1     1    

Shots on goal           61    Shots on goal           57
Saves made by (GA)      44    Saves made by (GA)      50
   General (8)       25          Nash (11)         50
   Roik (5)          19
Penalties               10    Penalties               12
Penalty Minutes         20    Penalty Minutes         24
Power Play Chances      10    Power Play Chances       8
Power Play Goals         4    Power Play Goals         2
   M Ladouceur        2          Panos              1
   Morley             1          Prout              1
   Sombrotto          1
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        0
Loose Balls             94    Loose Balls             76
   B Miller          11          Prout             15
   Stewart           10          Carlson           10
   Several Tied w/    7          Nash               8
                                 Paccione           8
Faceoffs Won            18    Faceoffs Won            10
   Purdie       (18-10)          Shanahan     ( 5- 7)
                                 Brothers     ( 3- 7)
                                 Ghedina      ( 2- 4)

  *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH NEW YORK SAINTS ***