Around the National Lacrosse League for the games of Week Eight, 15-18 February 2007. (Summaries are based on best-available information and may be amended as necessary.)

Colorado Mammoth at Portland LumberJax
Thursday, 10:00 PM - Rose Garden
Info: Game Stats

Nenad Gajic scored three second-half goals as the Mammoth finally shook off the LumberJax, 10-8.

Colorado (7-1) had a quick 2-0 lead on goals by Jim Moss (new in town, following last week's trade from San Jose) and Jamie Shewchuk, but gave one back moments later on a Tyler Heavenor goal; the clubs then played out the last twelve minutes of the first period without a goal.

Despite allowing a goal by Dan Carey 31 seconds into the second quarter, Portland (2-5) rallied for a 4-4 halftime tie, led by two goals from newly-acquired Kelly Hall.

Josh Sims and Gajic combined to put the Mammoth ahead 6-4 midway through the third, but the LumberJax came right back with goals from Bysouth and Hall. Gajic then scored to open a thin 7-6 lead for Colorado, going to the final period.

Brian Langtry extended the Mammoth lead to 8-6 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but Portland rallied again, using goals by Del Halladay and Peter Morgan to tie the game at 8-8.

Gajic broke the tie again at 8:56, and Matt Taylor provided an insurance goal 30 seconds later. It was the final offensive burst of the game.

Colorado's Gavin Prout led all scorers with six points, all assists. Hall had four points (3 goals, 1 assist) to pace the LumberJax.

Gord Nash went the distance for the win, making 40 saves. Dwight Maetche (36 saves, 8 goals allowed) took the loss in relief of Dallas Eliuk (4 saves, 2 goals allowed), who left in the first quarter after being hit in the head with a shot.

Buffalo Bandits at Philadelphia Wings
Saturday, 7:30 PM - Wachovia Center
Info: Game Stats

John Tavares scored three goals as the Bandits beat the Wings in the annual Hall of Fame Game, 12-8.

Buffalo (4-4) led 2-1 after a quiet first quarter, on an early goal by Kevin Dostie and a late goal by Tavares, then surged to a 6-1 halftime advantage by scoring all four goals in the second, including Tavares' second of the game.

Philadelphia (4-3) sputtered on a couple of chances to make a run, as goals by Kyle Wailes and Athan Iannucci were quickly countered by Cory Bomberry and Tavares, respectively. Buffalo actually gained ground in the period, scoring four goals to the Wings' three, and carried a 10-4 lead into the final quarter.

Wailes, Marc Morley, and Iannucci scored for the Wings by mid-fourth quarter, but a three-goal gap was as close as the Wings would get, with Kyle Laverty scoring on an empty net with 1:43 to play. Geoff Snider scored off the ensuing faceoff for the Wings, but Mark Steenhuis soon answered for Buffalo.

Tavares led all scorers with seven points, on three goals and four assists. Wailes (3 goals, 1 assist), Sean Greenhalgh (4 assists) and Dan Marohl (4 assists) had four points each for the Wings.

Portland LumberJax at Rochester Knighthawks
Saturday, 7:35 PM - Blue Cross Arena
Info: Game Stats

The Knighthawks scored ten straight first-half goals, routing the LumberJax, 18-12.

Rochester (6-2) scored the first two goals (Mike Accursi and John Grant), only to allow Ryan Powell and Richard Morgan to tie the game minutes later. The Knighthawks then ran off four goals in the final four minutes of the period, to go ahead 6-2.

The onslaught continued in the second quarter, as Grant, Accursi, Stephen Hoar and Ken Millin all struck in the first 5:19. Shawn Evans added a goal a minute and a half later, then Shawn Williams tacked one on two minutes before halftime, for a 12-2 lead.

Portland (2-6) found some offense in the third quarter, matching Rochester's three goals with three of its own -- a development which barely dented the Knighthawks' lead, now 15-5 headed to the fourth.

The LumberJax went on to score seven times in the final fifteen minutes, including two each from Kelly Hall and Peter Morgan and five of the last six goals, but it wasn't nearly enough to affect the outcome.

Grant (5 goals, 3 assists) and Accursi (3 goals, 5 assists) tied for the game high in points, eight. Ryan Powell (2 goals, 5 assists) had seven points for the LumberJax.

Minnesota Swarm at New York Titans
Saturday, 8:00 PM - Madison Square Garden
Info: Game Stats

Mike Hominuck scored five goals in his Swarm debut, leading Minnesota to a 15-14 victory over the host Titans.

After allowing the Titans to hang close for a quarter and a half, Minnesota (3-3) jumped out to an 8-4 lead midway through the second quarter, on consecutive goals by Hominuck, Sean Pollock and Dean Hill.

New York (1-6) rallied, though, getting to within 8-7 at halftime and taking the lead late in the third quarter.

Late-fourth-quarter goals by New York's Casey Powell and Ryan Boyle erased a 14-12 Swarm lead, but Sean Pollock scored at 14:25 to snap the tie.

Hominuck (5 goals, 1 assist), who finished behind teammates Pollock (3 goals, 6 assists) and Ryan Ward (2 goals, 7 assists) in scoring tonight, was acquired in a trade last week from Portland. Powell (2 goals, 6 assists) and Boyle (5 goals, 2 assists) topped the stat sheet for New York.

Edmonton Rush at Arizona Sting
Sunday, 3:00 PM - Jobing.com Arena
Info: Game Stats

Dan Dawson scored at 3:01 of overtime to give the Sting a 12-11 victory and avenge last week's loss at Edmonton.

Dawson scored the game's first goal a scant 27 seconds in, but neither side found rope again for another ten minutes, when Jason Wulder tied the game for Edmonton (2-4). That was a short-lived tie, with Curt Malawsky restoring the Sting's lead 33 seconds later.

After allowing the Rush to take a 3-2 lead early in the second quarter, on goals by Randy Daly and Jason Wulder, Arizona (5-2) found its footing on goals from Dawson and Matt Brown in the closing minutes of the first half.

Edmonton scored twice in the opening minute of the third quarter, but Arizona stung back in a big way, reeling off five straight goals -- two by Brown and singles from Scott Self, Lindsay Plunkett and Derek Malawsky -- to take a 9-5 lead.

The Rush countered with four straight goals of its own, bridging the third and fourth quarters, to tie the game at 9-9.

Following a Curt Malawsky goal, Gill and Dan Stroup scored for Edmonton, putting the visitors ahead 11-10 midway through the fourth quarter.

With less than 45 seconds to spare in regulation, Arizona tied the game on a Lindsay Plunkett, forcing the sudden death period.

Dawson tallied seven points (3 goals, 4 assists) to lead all scorers, while Gill (4 goals, 2 assists) and Jason Wulder (2 goals, 4 assists) had six points each for the Rush.

Chicago Shamrox at Toronto Rock
Sunday, 3:30 PM - Air Canada Centre
Info: Game Stats

Josh Sanderson's goal late in the fourth quarter snapped a 10-10 tie and gave the Rock a difficult 11-10 win over the Shamrox.

Chicago (3-4) was in the driver's seat most of the first half, going up 3-1 at the end of the first quarter and, after allowing the Rock to tie the game at 3-3 early in the second, rattled off five straight goals. A Sanderson goal five minutes before intermission cut Chicago's lead to 8-4.

Toronto (3-3) rallied in the third quarter, tying the game 8-8 on goals by Blaine Manning, Kevin Fines and Aaron Wilson (two) and on excellent goaltending by Bob Watson, who stopped all ten shots he faced in the period.

Wilson scored again to begin the fourth quarter, completing a natural hat trick, and the Shamrox, for the first time all afternoon, were forced to play catch-up. They couldn't, getting only as far as tying the game twice.

The Sanderson goal, scored with 2:39 remaining in regulation (and assisted, naturally, by Wilson) sealed the victory for Toronto, which has now won three straight games after opening 0-3.

Wilson (4 goals, 1 assist) and Manning (1 goal, 4 assists) had five points for the Rock, as did Mat Giles (3 goals, 2 assists) for the Shamrox.

Calgary Roughnecks at Colorado Mammoth
Sunday, 8:00 PM - Pepsi Center
Info: Game Stats

Jamie Shewchuk scored three times in the final sixteen minutes to lead the Mammoth past the Roughnecks, 15-12.

Despite scoring first, Calgary (4-3) played from behind most of the first quarter as five Mammoth players (including Gavin Prout and Dan Carey) scored to build a 5-4 lead after one quarter.

The Roughnecks tied the game early in the second quarter, on a goal by Tracey Kelusky, but gave it back to Colorado (8-1) moments later when Brian Langtry netted his second goal of the game. Another such exchange put the Mammoth ahead 7-6, a score it would hold for the final eight minutes of the half.

Calgary moved out to its first lead in almost thirty minutes when Andrew McBride and Lewis Ratcliff combined for goals in the opening four minutes of the second half, this time leaving the Mammoth to tie the game and then fall behind.

With four minutes to play in the third, Dave Stilley scored to put the Mammoth ahead 10-9. Kaleb Toth scored two minutes later to tie the game, but Shewchuk struck for his first of the night with 55 seconds to go in the period.

Carey scored 32 seconds into the fourth quarter, and after a Ratcliff goal brought the Riggers to within 12-11, Shewchuk and Carey combined to score three straight goals, essentially securing the win.

Carey (3 goals, 4 assists) and Ratcliff (2 goals, 5 assists) tied for the game high in points, seven.

New York Titans at Minnesota Swarm
Sunday, 8:00 PM - Xcel Energy Center
Info: Game Stats

Kasey Beirnes and Dean Hill had hat tricks for the Swarm in a 17-14 win over the Titans, completing a weekend sweep.

Minnesota (4-3) dominated the first quarter, building a 7-0 lead on goals by seven different scorers. Pat Maddalena finally got the Titans on the board in the final fifteen seconds of the period, then scored again to begin the second quarter.

That was it for a while from the Titans' offensive, though, as the Swarm cranked out another four goals over the next six minutes, two from Beirnes, completing his hat trick.

New York (1-7) scored two more goals before halftime, but alas, so did the Swarm, for a 13-4 lead.

After allowing a Ryan Ward goal to begin the second half, the Titans dominated the rest of the third quarter, with Maddalena scoring three times in a 5-1 run which narrowed the gap to a mere (gulp!) 15-9.

Casey Powell netted three fourth-quarter goals for the Titans, and Mike McLellan added a pair, but the Titans never came especially close to tying the game.

Maddalena (5 goals, 3 assists) and Ryan Boyle (2 goals, 6 assists) had eight points each, leading all scorers. Mike Hominuck tallied six points for the Swarm, on two goals and four assists.