Around the National Lacrosse League for the games of Week Nine, 23-24 February 2007. (Summaries are based on best-available information and may be amended as necessary.)

Portland LumberJax at Edmonton Rush
Friday, 9:00 PM - Rexall Place
Info: Game Stats

Ryan O'Connor scored 5:52 into overtime to give the Rush a 9-8 win, spoiling a big LumberJax rally.

Edmonton (3-4) scored the only goal of the first quarter, a Kevin Howard strike two minutes in, then stretched its lead to 3-0 on early-second quarter goals by Chris Gill and Rory Glaves.

Peter Morgan put Portland (2-7) on the board, but the Rush responded with three goals, including Gill's second and third of the night, for a 6-1 lead early in the third quarter.

After Portland's Ryder Bateman and Edmonton's Dan Stroup exchanged goals, the LumberJax ran off three straight goals to end the third quarter, two by Ryan Powell.

The LumberJax pulled within 7-6 on a Del Halladay goal 5:32 into the fourth quarter, then (following an Andrew Turner goal) tied the game at 8-8 on a pair from Tyler Heavenor, the latter coming with 2:36 to play in regulation.

Gill (3 goals, 1 assist) and Stroup (1 goal, 3 assists) tallied four points for Edmonton, while Powell (2 goals, 2 assists) did the same for Portland.

Toronto Rock at Calgary Roughnecks
Friday, 9:30 PM - Pengrowth Saddledome
Info: Game Stats

Aaron Wilson and Josh Sanderson scored four goals each as the Rock defeated the Roughnecks, 12-9.

Calgary's uninspired performance marked the team's third straight loss and led to the postgame firing of head coach Chris Hall.

The pounding began early by Toronto (4-3), which rebounded from allowing a first-minute goal to rip off five of its own, two each from Wilson and Sanderson.

A Scott Ranger goal late in the first quarter made it 5-2, but the Rock came back with three straight to begin the second quarter.

Calgary (4-4) countered with three goals to end the first half at 8-5, but gained no ground with a 1-1 third quarter.

Toronto iced the game in the fourth quarter, as Wilson struck twice and Sanderson scored once for a 12-6 lead. The Riggers got three goals in the final four minutes to make the score more respectable.

Sanderson (4 goals, 5 assists) led all scorers with nine points, and Wilson (4 goals, 4 assists) was just a step behind with eight. Lewis Ratcliff (3 goals, 2 assists) tallied five points for Calgary.

Calgary Roughnecks at Toronto Rock
Saturday, 7:30 PM - Air Canada Centre
Info: Game Stats

Tracey Kelusky was one of three Roughnecks with hat tricks in a 17-13 victory over the Rock.

Calgary (5-4), playing under interim head coach Kurt Silcott after Chris Hall was fired yesterday, got out to a quick 3-1 lead, then extended it to 5-3 by the end of the first quarter.

The Roughnecks kept attacking in the second quarter, scoring six times for an 11-6 halftime lead. Kerry Susheski scored twice in the period and Scott Ranger once, each completing a hat trick.

Toronto (4-4) appeared to be making up a little ground in the third quarter, connecting for goals by Chris Driscoll and Chad Thompson, but Nolan Heavenor and Kelusky had other ideas, boosting the Riggers' lead to 14-8.

Toronto jumped back into the game by scoring four straight goals to begin the fourth quarter, rallying to within 14-12 with 3:15 to play.

However, Jeff Shattler scored a half-minute later to open some ground for Calgary, and Taylor Wray followed, into an empty net, with 1:04 to play. Matt Shearer, in a futile cause, scored late, but Shattler quickly followed with an ampty-netter of his own.

Josh Sanderson led all scorers with one Rock goal and seven assists, for eight points. Chad Thompson added four goals. For Calgary, Kelusky (3 goals, 1 assist), Ranger (3 goals, 1 assist) and Lewis Ratcliff (1 goal, 3 assists) each tallied four points.

Philadelphia Wings at Buffalo Bandits
Saturday, 7:30 PM - HSBC Arena
Info: Game Stats

Kevin Dostie scored with eight seconds left as the Bandits rallied past the Wings, 12-11.

Buffalo (5-4) led just about the entire first quarter, going ahead on a Pat McCready goal 20 seconds in and extending its lead to 3-1 by the five-minute mark. Keith Cromwell soon cut the lead to 3-2, but Cory Bomberry responded with a goal in the final minute of the period.

Philadelphia (4-4) made its move in the second quarter, running off four straight goals (Jeff Ratcliffe, Dan Marohl, and two from Sean Greenhalgh) to take a 6-4 lead, but the Bandits pulled back to within one on a John Tavares goal with 1:49 remaining before intermission.

Tavares tied the game early in the third quarter, and Roger Vyse did it again almost seven minutes later, but consecutive goals by Athan Iannucci and Cromwell restored the Wings' lead.

First-round picks Ian Llord and Kyle Wailes stretched the Wings' lead to 11-8 just 79 seconds into the fourth quarter, but Buffalo battled back, as Cory Bomberry scored twice in the next six minutes and Tavares followed with a pair, tying the game at 11-11 with 1:10 to play.

That set up Dostie's heroics, which soon led to a game-ending fight between McCready and young Wings brawler Geoff Snider, a tilt in which Snider earned some 37 minutes in penalties (including three ten-minute misconducts).

Tavares tallied seven points (4 goals, 3 assists), leading all scorers. Greenhalgh topped the Wings' stat sheet with five points, on two goals and three assists.

San Jose Stealth at New York Titans
Saturday, 7:30 PM - Nassau Coliseum
Info: Game Stats

The Stealth held off a late rally by the Titans, winning 12-11 in a battle of last-place teams.

Luke Wiles scored less than three minutes in for San Jose (2-5), but the Stealth soon fell behind on tallies by Brendan Mundorf and Casey Powell. No sweat -- four consecutive San Jose goals resulted in a 5-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Things only got marginally better for New York (1-8) in the second quarter, as Ryan Boyle, Casey Powell and Mike McLellan sprinkled goals around a pair by the Stealth's Gary Rosyski, inching to within 7-5 at halftime.

New York tied the game early in the third quarter, on goals by Greg Peyser and Jeff Spano, but the Stealth struck back for a 9-7 lead, courtesy of Wiles and Colin Doyle.

Pat Maddalena scored quickly for the Titans to begin the fourth quarter, but just as quickly, Ian Hawksbee took the goal back, launching a three-goal run which put the Stealth up, 12-8.

New York scratched its way back into contention, with Gewas Schindler scoring twice and McLellan adding a goal at 14:42. However, 12-11 is as close as the Titans would come, as San Jose halted the string of goals then and there.

Doyle and Jeff Zywicki tied for the game high in scoring, with six points each on matching two-goal, four-assist efforts. Boyle (1 goal, 4 assists) led the Titans with five points.

Arizona Sting at Rochester Knighthawks
Saturday, 8:05 PM - Blue Cross Arena
Info: Game Stats

John Grant scored seven goals as the Knighthawks defeated the Sting, 19-16.

In a game marked by several big runs, Rochester (7-2) held a 6-1 lead after one quarter, led by two goals from Mike Accursi and one each from Shawn Williams, Scott Evans, Shawn Evans and Grant.

Arizona (5-4) scored twice to begin the second quarter, but the Knighthawks quickly responded with two of their own, from Grant and Steve Toll.

Arizona proceeded to score the next nine goals, eight in the second quarter, for a 12-8 lead. Chris Seller and Lindsay Plunkett scored twice in the run, an accomplishment quickly made hollow when Rochester rattled off seven straight goals (three by Grant, two by Scott Evans).

By the time Plunkett broke the run, at 4:40 of the fourth quarter, Arizona had been scoreless for eighteen minutes and trailed 15-13. The Sting got within one when Craig Conn potted a goal at 9:46, but Grant got a couple quickies and Toll and Schiller added final-minute goals.

Grant, unsurprisingly, led all scorers with nine points, on seven goals and two assists. Scott Evans (3 goals, 5 assists) was close behind with eight points, and Williams (1 goal, 6 assists) had seven. Conn (2 goals, 4 assists) tallied six points for the Sting.

Minnesota Swarm at Chicago Shamrox
Saturday, 8:30 PM - Sears Centre
Info: Game Stats

Sean Pollock scored four goals and Ryan Ward dished out six assists as the Swarm overpowered the Shamrox, 19-11.

Minnesota (5-3) scored the game's first four goals, only to allow Chicago (3-5) to pull even by the end of the period, 5-5, led by two goals from Josh Wasson.

Cody Jacobs scored twice early in the second quarter, sandwiching a Sean Pollock goal, as the Shamrox took a short-lived 7-6 lead. Minnesota quickly tied the game, then went ahead 10-7 by halftime after two goals from Kasey Beirnes and one from Ryan Ward.

The Swarm turned the game into a rout in the third, a 6-1 romp which began with Mike Hominuck's third goal of the game and ended with two from Pollock, his third and fourth of the evening.

A rather nondistinct fourth quarter followed, with the teams scoring three goals each in alternating fashion.

Ward led all players in scoring, tallying three goals and dishing our six assists for a total of nine points. Wasson (2 goals, 4 assists) had six points for the Shamrox.

Portland LumberJax at Colorado Mammoth
Saturday, 9:00 PM - Pepsi Center
Info: Game Stats

A nine-goal first-half run proved more than enough for the Mammoth to defeat the LumberJax, 13-7.

Portland (2-8) netted the game's first goal, but was held scoreless for the next 24 minutes as Colorado (9-1) took control. Goals by Jamie Shewchuk, Jordan Cornfield, Brian Langtry and Josh Sims made it 4-1 after one quarter.

The Mammoth continued with five more goals to begin the second quarter -- Sims, Ben Prepchuk, Nick Carlson, Dan Carey and Nenad Gajic. Richard Morgan scored twice late in the first half, sandwiching a Gavin Prout goal, to make the score a slightly more respectable 10-3.

Carey's goal was especially notable as it held up as the game-winner just 21 minutes in, and put the loss on 'Jax goalie Dallas Eliuk, who appeared for just 55 seconds in relief of Matt King, stopping just one of three shots he faced.

After a long scoreless run to start the second half, Prepchuk and Carey found rope in the final 90 seconds of the period, extending the Mammoth's lead to 12-3.

The LumberJax scored four times in the fourth quarter, but never made much of a run at tying the game.

Langtry (1 goal, 5 assists) led all scorers with six points, while Morgan topped the LumberJax in scoring, with all his points coming on three goals.