Around the National Lacrosse League for the games of Week Twelve, 16-18 March 2007. (Summaries are based on best-available information and may be amended as necessary.)

Toronto Rock at Edmonton Rush
Friday, 9:00 PM - Rexall Place
Info: Game Stats

Jim Quinlan scored three goals as the Rush downed the Rock, 12-9.

Edmonton (4-5) opened with two quick goals, as Jamey Bowen and Ryan O'Connor scored in the first three minutes. After Aaron Wilson tallied for Toronto (4-6), O'Connor scored again for a 3-1 lead which held for most of the first quarter, until Rob Marshall scored for the Rock with 63 seconds left in the period.

Following a Quinlan goal to begin the second quarter, Toronto tied the game at 4-4 on goals by Josh Sanderson and Chad Thompson.

While the Rock may have felt it had just gained valuable momentum to put down the second-year Rush, back came Edmonton with three goals before intermission, touching off an 8-1 run extending well into the fourth quarter. During the almost-thirty-minute stretch, Quinlan, Chris Gill, and Randy Daly each scored twice.

Toronto finally broke through midway through the fourth quarter, with Ryan Benesch scoring a pair and Sanderson and Thompson following with singles. It was a case of too little, too late, as the Rock still trailed by three after Thompson's goal, with 22 seconds to play.

Bowen and Daly had five points each (on matching two-goal, three-assist efforts) to lead the Rush in scoring. Wilson (1 goal, 4 assists) also had five points.

Calgary Roughnecks at Arizona Sting
Friday, 10:30 PM - Jobing.com Arena
Info: Game Stats

Derek Malawsky scored three goals in the Sting's 14-10 victory over the Roughnecks.

Calgary (5-5), playing for the first time under new head coach Jeff Dowling, had a 2-1 lead after one period, on goals by Kaleb Toth and Jeff Moleski.

That lead, though, was short-lived, as Arizona (7-3) scored five times in the second quarter, including two from Lindsay Plunkett, to take a 6-3 halftime lead.

Lewis Ratcliff scored to begin the second half, pulling the Riggers to within two, but Matt Brown soon responded for the Sting. Jeff Shattler then struck for Calgary, but Dan Dawson pushed the lead back to three moments later.

Malawsky then finished the third-quarter scoring, putting the Sting ahead 9-5, then netted another one to begin the fourth period.

A Plunkett goal one minute later seemingly buried the Roughnecks, but Tracey Kelusky quickly shot off a natural hat trick and Calgary was back to within three, at 11-8, with six minutes to play.

Calgary could get no closer, as the Sting scored the next three goals, including an empty-netter by goaltender Rob Blasdell (the third such goal of his career).

Dawson had nine points (2 goals, 7 assists) to lead all scorers. Kelusky (3 goals, 2 assists) and Toth (1 goal, 4 assists) tallied five points apiece for the Roughnecks.

Buffalo Bandits at New York Titans
Saturday, 12:30 PM - Madison Square Garden
Info: Game Stats

The Bandits overcame a first-minute 2-0 deficit to defeat the Titans, 11-8.

New York (2-9) came out firing, as Pat Maddalena and Casey Powell tallied goals in the first 34 seconds, then kept Buffalo (7-4) from scoring until the game was ten minutes old.

Once the Bandits found the net, though, they really liked what they found, running off seven consecutive goals to take a 7-2 halftime lead.

The Titans continued spinning their wheels until the closing seconds of the third quarter, when Brendan Mundorf scored to pull New York to within 10-5. That started a four-goal run, including a pair by Maddalena, which made the score dangerously close at 10-8.

Mike Thompson held resolute in goal, though, and Mark Steenhuis scored an insurance goal with 1:46 remaining, and the Bandits escaped with the victory.

Maddalena recorded four goals and two assists, leading all scorers with six points. Steenhuis (3 goals, 2 assists) had five points for Buffalo.

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

Dan Carey scored the tying goal late in regulation, then won it 4:44 into overtime, as the Mammoth edged the road-weary Rock, 13-12.

Toronto (4-7), fresh off a cross-country flight home after losing last night in Edmonton, stumbled early, allowing the Mammoth to build a 4-1 lead just nine minutes into the game. However, Ryan Benesch and Bryan Riddell scored late in the period for the Rock, cutting the gap to 4-3.

The Rock then just ahead 6-4 two and a half minutes into the second quarter, as Aaron Wilson scored twice and Blaine Manning once. Brian Langtry and Benesch then exchanged goals as the scoring slowed down considerably, and Toronto took a 7-5 lead to the locker room.

More offense from the aforementioned Rock forwards (one goal each for Benesch, Wilson and Manning) pushed the lead to 10-5 midway through the third quarter, but Colorado (10-1) pushed back with singles from three heavy lifters of its own -- Jamie Shewchuk, Langtry, and Gavin Prout -- to pull within 10-8.

Prout scored twice more to begin the fourth quarter, finishing a natural hat trick and tying the game at 10-all. The clubs went back and forth the rest of regulation, as a Benesch goal was countered by Matt Taylor and a Kevin Fines tally was balanced by Carey's equalizer with 1:49 to play.

Benesch (4 goals, 3 assists) and Prout (3 goals, 4 assists) tied for the game high in points, seven.

Supersub Chris Levis claimed another win out of the bullpen for Colorado, stopping 19 of 22 shots faced in relief of Gord Nash (36 saves, 9 goals allowed). Mike Poulin (41 saves, 13 GA) took the loss for Toronto in his first professional start.

Minnesota Swarm at Philadelphia Wings
Saturday, 7:30 PM - Wachovia Center

Tonight's game between the Swarm and Wings was postponed due to travel problems related to Friday's snowstorm on the East Coast.

The game has been rescheduled for Friday, 13 April, at 7:30 PM.

Sunday afternoon's meeting in Minnesota, however, will be played as scheduled.

Minnesota is 5-4 on the season, while Philadelphia stands at 4-5.

Rochester Knighthawks at Chicago Shamrox
Saturday, 8:30 PM - Sears Centre
Info: Game Stats

The Knighthawks scored three goals in the final three minutes, breaking a 12-12 tie and claiming a 15-12 win over the Shamrox.

Rochester (9-2) managed the unusual feat of winning a game it never trailed yet only led by more than two goals for 27 seconds. It figures, then, that defenseman Chris Schiller got the first goal, followed eight minutes later by John Grant, a far more usual suspect for that sort of thing.

Josh Wasson scored in the final minutes of the period for Chicago (3-7), then Mike Kirk tied the game early in the second quarter. The Knighthawks then moved out to their only three-goal lead, only to waste it completely when Bill McGlone and Jonas Derks (twice) ran off three goals over the next two minutes.

Brian Croswell made it 6-5 with five minutes to play before halftime, but the newly-signed Derks finished his in-quarter hat trick a minute and a half later, for a 6-6 tie at intermission.

Goals by Scott Evans and Mike Accursi in the opening minute of the third quarter gave Rochester some much-needed breathing room, as the teams then swapped goals, one for one, the rest of the period.

A Kevin Leveille tally four minutes into the fourth quarter tied the game at 11-11, then an exchange between the Knighthawks' Ken Millin and former K'Hawk Mat Giles made it 12-12 with 3:32 to play in regulation.

That's when Rochester finally showed why it leads the Eastern Division and the first-year Shamrox have stumbled badly of late -- Evans. Grant. Bill Greer. Unanswered. Ballgame.

Evans (4 goals, 1 assists), Grant (3 goals, 2 assists) and Derks (3 goals, 2 assists) each had five points, tying for the game high.

Portland LumberJax at San Jose Stealth
Saturday, 10:30 PM - HP Pavilion
Info: Game Stats

Gary Rosyski had four goals and six assists as the Stealth doubled up the LumberJax, 17-8.

San Jose (4-5), winners of three straight, started slowly, leading 2-1 after one quarter, but gained momentum early in the second quarter, when Jeff Zywicki, Colin Doyle and Rosyski combined for a 5-1 Stealth lead.

Portland (2-9) kept it close, though, scoring four goals the rest of the first half (to San Jose's two) and stayed close, at 7-5.

Tyler Heavenor made it even closer, scoring 36 seconds into the second half for the LumberJax. San Jose responded with seven consecutive goals, two each by Rosyski, Doyle and Luke Wiles, and suddenly, the Stealth led 14-6.

Portland made a slight push early in the fourth quarter, scoring twice, but the Stealth shot back with three more to end the game, two from Ian Hawksbee.

Rosyski's ten points led all scorers, but Zywicki (2 goals, 6 assists) and Wiles (2 goals, 5 assists) weren't far behind. Portland's scorers, though, were -- Kelly Hall's four points (2 goals, 2 assists) were tops for the LumberJax.

Philadelphia Wings at Minnesota Swarm
Sunday, 6:00 PM - Xcel Energy Center
Info: Game Stats

Kasey Beirnes scored two second-half goals as the Swarm clipped the Wings, 11-9.

After allowing a Ryan Sharp goal, Philadelphia (4-6) shot out to a 4-1 lead, on two goals from Jake Bergey and singles by John Christmas and Sean Greenhalgh. Minnesota quickly tied the game at 4-4, though, when Beirnes scored twice and Chad Culp struck once, all in the last two and a half minutes of the first quarter.

Greenhalgh snuck in a goal at 14:51, restoring the Wings' lead. It didn't last long, as Ryan Ward tied the game five minutes into the second quarter. The teams then exchanged goals a few times, settling for a 7-7 halftime tie.

Both teams tightened defensively in the second half, with Bergey and Beirnes scoring the only goals in the third quarter. Beirnes then struck again to open the fourth, staking the Swarm to its first lead since Sharp made it 1-0. Ward made it a two-goal lead 48 seconds later, and the Wings couldn't recover.

A Jeff Ratcliffe goal brought Philly halfway back, but when Culp scored with 3:45 to play, that all but sealed defeat for the weak-closing Wings.

Bergey, in a turn-back-the-clock performance, led all scorers with six points, on four goals and two assists. Culp (3 goals, 2 assists) had five points for the Swarm.