The San Jose Stealth moved ever closer to a playoff berth Saturday night, soundly beating the Anaheim Storm, 16-13, in front of a home crowd of 4,782 at HP Pavilion.

Gary Rosyski had his second consecutive player of the game performance, tallying seven points on four goals and three assists as the Stealth bolted out to an impressive 6-1 lead in the first quarter.

Mike Regan (three goals, one assist) opened the first quarter scoring with two tremendous goals and finished the period with a hat trick.

San Jose dominated the game in transition, with both Dan Teat and Matt Ogelsby (two goals, two assists, eleven loose balls) scoring off fast break opportunities.

Teat's effort came as Anaheim, on the power play, appeared confused during a personnel change allowing Rob Blasdell to find a streaking Teat on a breakaway.

Ogelsby scored on a self-created breakaway after pressuring Anaheim's Ted Jenner into a turnover, giving San Jose a 4-0 lead.

Anaheim seemed to fold early against an aggressive San Jose defensive unit which needed to have a great game after being physically dominated by Colorado the night before. "We didn't play a good game last night," Stealth captain Cam Woods said after the game. "We needed to get this one and we really took it to them."

San Jose goaltender Brandon Miller added, "We got after them really well. It got a little interesting towards the end, though."

San Jose led 11-3 at the half and appeared to be cruising. Almost everything the Stealth did met with success at both sides of the floor.

Many of the fans in attendance were as stunned as Anaheim goalie Matt Roik when rookie Andrew Biers (two goals, two assists) fired a laser from the just beyond the time line and the shot forced Roik from the game for Matt Disher.

San Jose extended its lead to 15-3 on Rosyski's fourth goal, his second shorthander of the game, in the third quarter, but then Anaheim then put on an impressive run of three goals.

Richard Morgan (three goals), Brian O'Keefe (one goal), and Scott Stewart (three goals, four assists) scored before Ogelsby answered back for the Stealth with 56.6 seconds left to make it 16-6 at the end of the third period.

San Jose didn't score again.

"We lost our legs a little bit down the stretch and we let them get back in it," Stealth assistant captain Jim Moss said. Indeed.

The Storm rallied behind captain Casey Powell (three goals, five assists), making an impressive seven-goal charge while shutting out San Jose in the final period.

Mike Law (three goals, three assists) and Stewart both played outstanding down the stretch as Anaheim frantically mounted an attack to get back in the game.

"They took it to us early and we just got down too far," one Anaheim player was quoted as saying. "If they can play with that sort of energy all the way through, they're going to be really tough to beat in the playoffs."

The victory pushed San Jose into a tie with Calgary for second place in the Western Division at 8-5. The Stealth can clinch a playoff berth with a victory next weekend and an Arizona loss, and can clinch home field in the first week if they win all three of their remaining games.

Arizona closes out the Stealth's regular season in San Jose on 10 April at HP Pavilion.

NOTES:

The crowd was definitely louder for this game than any since the Philadelphia game back in January. While the final attendance of 4,782 was considered disappointing, it turned out that many who were in attendance tonight were going to their first game and will be returning.

The Stealth hosted its local Scoop 'N Shoot competition early on Saturday afternoon and I had the pleasure of working with Jeff Tierney, the NLL's PR assistant. This year's competition drew 61 kids, 27 eleven years of age and younger and 34 between the ages of twelve and fourteen. Casey Hock of Danville (ten years old) and Wil Fales of Los Gatos (fourteen years old) will represent the Stealth at the national finals next weekend in Rochester.

After the competition, Mike Regan and Josh Sanderson came out to sign autographs and take photos for the participants. It was great to have the chance to talk to them about Colorado ("We didn't play great... the Denver fans are awesome... to see Gary Gait get 1,000 was really cool...").

This weekend looms large as San Jose finds itself in the most vulnerable position in relation to the playoffs. The Stealth could finish the regular season hosting a first round playoff game, could find itself on the road for the duration of the playoffs, or could even finish out of the playoff picture with a complete meltdown over the final three games.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Anaheim Storm (1-12)                  1  2  3  7  --  13
San Jose Stealth (8-5)                6  5  5  0  --  16

ANAHEIM STORM                 SAN JOSE STEALTH
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
C Powell       3 - 5     8    Rosyski        4 - 4     8
Stewart        3 - 4     7    J Sanderson    0 - 5     5
Law            3 - 3     6    Regan          3 - 1     4
R Morgan       3 - 0     3    Biers          2 - 2     4
O'Keefe        1 - 0     1    Oglesby        2 - 2     4
Morley         0 - 1     1    Hall           0 - 3     3
Panos          0 - 1     1    Kruger         2 - 0     2
Rosa           0 - 1     1    Teat           1 - 1     2
Seller         0 - 1     1    Woods          1 - 1     2
                              Day            1 - 0     1
                              Cercy          0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           46    Shots on goal           49
Saves made by (GA)      33    Saves made by (GA)      33
   Roik (14)         19          Blasdell (13)     33
   Disher (2)        14
Penalties                9    Penalties               13
Penalty Minutes         18    Penalty Minutes         29
Power Play Chances       9    Power Play Chances       4
Power Play Goals         4    Power Play Goals         1
   C Powell           2          Rosyski            1
   Law                1
   Stewart            1
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        3
   (None)                        Rosyski            2
                                 Teat               1
Loose Balls             54    Loose Balls             55
   Law                7          Oglesby           11
   Rosa               7          Moss               7
   C Powell           5          P Sanderson        6
Faceoffs Won            15    Faceoffs Won            18
   Purdie       ( 7- 4)          Cercy        (18-11)
   Ghedina      ( 7-14)          Moss         ( 0- 2)
   Law          ( 1- 0)          P Sanderson  ( 0- 1)
                                 Santos       ( 0- 1)

 *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH SAN JOSE STEALTH ***