Around the National Lacrosse League for the games of Week Eighteen, 25-27 April 2008. (Summaries are based on best-available information and may be amended as necessary.)

Chicago Shamrox at Minnesota Swarm
Friday, 8:00 PM - Xcel Energy Center
Inside: Game Stats | Discuss the Game

Brad Self scored four goals to lead the Shamrox to a 12-10 upset of the Swarm.

Minnesota (9-6) controlled play early, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first ten minutes. However, the Shamrox wiped away much of that lead by the end of the first quarter, trailing just 4-3.

Chicago (6-9) kept rolling in the second quarter, as Self scored twice, Bill McGlone scored once and Jason Clark got his second tally in what had become a seven-goal run and a 7-4 halftime lead.

Chad Culp scored early in the third quarter for Minnesota, but Cody Jacobs countered two minutes later. Continuing the frustration, a Sean Pollock goal for Minnesota was met by a Kevin Ross reply 26 seconds later.

The Swarm finally strung together consecutive goals when Jon Sullivan scored late in the third quarter and Dan Marohl early in the fourth, cutting Chicago's lead to 9-8. Self and Keith Cromwell swapped goals moments later, for a 10-9 Shamrox lead, before Jacobs scored an insurance goal with 4:30 left and Self nailed down the victory with a goal at 14:28.

Self led all scorers with five points, on four goals and an assist. Cromwell (2 goals, 1 assist) was among three Swarm players with three points.

Colorado Mammoth at San Jose Stealth
Saturday, 3:00 PM - HP Pavilion
Inside: Game Stats | Discuss the Game

The Stealth scored all four fourth-quarter goals to defeat the Mammoth, 11-6, and clinch the Western Division title.

San Jose (9-7) went ahead 4-1 ten minutes into the game, aided by two goals from Jeff Zywicki, and led 5-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Colorado (9-7) cut the gap slightly in the second quarter, with Brian Langtry and Nenad Gajic scoring for the Mammoth around a Stealth goal by Gary Rosyski.

Colorado tied the game at 6-6 by scoring twice to open the second half, Jason Wulder 91 seconds in and Langtry just past the five-minute mark.

Frank Resetarits scored late in the third quarter for San Jose, giving the Stealth a lead it would not relinquish. If fact, it was a lead that needed no padding, as the Mammoth finished with no goals scored over the final 25 minutes.

However, the lead got plenty of padding, as Colin Doyle, Cam Sedgwick, Rosyski and Zywicki took turns cementing the Stealth's division title with fourth-quarter goals.

Doyle led all scorers with two goals and seven assists, while Zywicki found rope a total of three times on the afternoon. Langtry and Jamie Shewchuk had identical two-goal, two-assist showings for the Mammoth.

Portland LumberJax at Buffalo Bandits
Saturday, 7:30 PM - HSBC Arena
Inside: Game Stats | Discuss the Game

John Tavares scored four goals and dished out four assists in the Bandits' 14-10 victory over the LumberJax.

The victory, combined with results of other games this evening, secured for Buffalo (10-6) home-floor advantage throughout the upcoming playoffs.

Richard Morgan provided Portland (6-10) with an early 1-0 lead, but the Bandits replied with four straight goals by mid-quarter, including two by Roger Vyse.

Buffalo led 5-2 after one quarter, but coughed up much of that by allowing four LumberJax goals in the second. Goals by Brett Bucktooth and Tavares allowed the Bandits to escape to their locker room with a 7-6 lead.

Ryan Powell tied the game less than a minute into the third quarter, but Kevin Dostie restored the Bandits' lead three minutes later. Bucktooth extended the lead to 9-7 late in the quarter, but Pete Jacobs tied the game within a couple minutes.

Tavares netted a pair of his own before the quarter was done, then completed the natural hat trick eleven minutes later. What little chance Portland still had at that point vanished seconds later when Mark Steenhuis scored to make the score 13-9 with 3:25 left.

Tavares finished with eight points, on four goals and four assists. Jacobs tallied four goals for Portland.

Rochester Knighthawks at New York Titans
Saturday, 8:00 PM - Madison Square Garden
Inside: Game Stats | Discuss the Game

Brendan Mundorf scored four goals as the Titans edged the Knighthawks, 12-11.

Rochester (8-8), though, had the early lead, with Shawn Williams tallying a first-quarter hat trick as the Knighthawks slipped out to a 4-2 lead. Scott Evans then extended the Knighthawks's to 6-3 by halftime, scoring eleven minutes apart in the second quarter.

New York (10-6) got turned in the right direction after the break, with Mike McLellan and Mundorf each scoring in the first 70 seconds. Shawn Evans and Bill Greer soon countered for Rochester, but the Titans scored three of the next four goals and pulled to within 9-7 by the end of the period.

Mundorf quickly got the game tied, 9-9, in the fourth quarter, then Jordan Hall put New York ahead a few minutes later. After a John Grant goal, Jeff Ratcliffe and Jarett Park built a 12-10 lead for the Titans.

Ken Millin narrowed the gap to one goal with 19 seconds left, but the Knighthawks could not get the equalizer -- and with it ended a thirteen-year run in which Rochester qualified for the postseason every season.

Williams finished as the game's top scorer, tallying three goals and four assists. Mundorf (4 goals, 1 assist) and Pat Maddalena (5 assists) each had five points for New York.

Minnesota Swarm at Chicago Shamrox
Saturday, 8:00 PM - Sears Centre
Inside: Game Stats | Discuss the Game

Ryan Ward scored four goals in the Swarm's 12-11 victory over the Shamrox.

Two of Ward's goals came in the first quarter, during which Minnesota (10-6) struggled mightily to get away from the Shamrox, who upset the Swarm last night in St. Paul. In the end, Andy Secore and Ryan Cousins scored late in the period, snapping a 3-3 tie.

Ward netted another pair of goals in the second quarter, part of a 4-1 run that put the Swarm ahead, 9-4. Chicago (6-10) rattled off three straight goals, though, and trailed just 10-7 at halftime.

Goals by Kevin Ross and Josh Wasson pulled the Shamrox to within 10-9, but the Swarm quickly regained the three-goal lead on goals by Craig Point and Sean Pollock.

Mat Giles and Bill McGlone scored fourth-quarter goals to get the Shamrox to within one, but netminder Nick Patterson and the Swarm defense buckled down over the final 4:26 and prevented Chicago from scoring the tying goal.

Pollock and Secore led the Swarm offensively, each man scoring two goals and dishing out three assists. Minnesota's Brad Self also reached five points, on a goal and four assists.

Calgary Roughnecks at Edmonton Rush
Saturday, 9:30 PM - Rexall Place
Inside: Game Stats | Discuss the Game

Curt Malawsky scored four goals, leading the Roughnecks to a 12-8 victory over the Rush.

Calgary (7-9) jumped out a 3-1 lead eleven minutes into the game, then fell behind 4-3 by the end of the quarter after Rush goals by Mike Grimes and Dan Teat (two).

Two Malawsky goals in the second quarter put the Roughnecks ahead 5-4, but Dan Stroup tied the game for Edmonton (4-12) moments later. Tracey Kelusky then scored with 12 seconds left in the half to restore Calgary's one-goal lead.

Edmonton snatched a 7-6 lead when Mike Hominuck scored twice to begin the third quarter, but Kaleb Toth and Malawsky scored late to put the Riggers back in front.

Malawsky scored again a minute and a half into the fourth quarter, marking Calgary's first two-goal lead since early in the first quarter.

Jimmy Quinlan scored with 9:31 to play, bringing the Rush to within 9-8, but the Roughnecks scored the final three goals of the game.

Malawsky (4 goals, 1 assist) and Hominuck (3 goals, 2 assists) led their respective clubs offensively, with five points each.

Philadelphia Wings at Toronto Rock
Sunday, 1:00 PM - Air Canada Centre
Inside: Game Stats | Discuss the Game

Athan Iannucci scored shorthanded in the final minute of regulation, lifting the Wings to a 15-14 victory over the Rock.

Iannucci tallied four goals for Philadelphia (10-6), extending his league record total to 70 for the season. The game meant nothing for the Wings' playoff status; last night, they clinched a first-round trip to Buffalo.

The Wings made the most of their "meaningless" game, at least early on -- Iannucci scored twice and six others netted a goal as Philadelphia jumped to an 8-2 lead after one quarter.

Toronto (7-9), which will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1998, made up half the deficit in the second quarter. Scott Campbell scored twice, bookending singles from Blaine Manning, Lewis Ratcliff and Aaron Wilson as the Rock pulled to within 10-7 at halftime.

Philadelphia got a pair of goals early in the third quarter, extending its lead to 12-7, but Ratcliff and Manning scored late in the period to cut the Rock's deficit back to three goals.

Down 14-10 with just under ten minutes to play, Toronto rattled off four straight goals to tie the game, with Ratcliff scoring once and assisting on two others.

With 2:05 to play, Wings defender Taylor Wray was assessed a major penalty for illegal cross checking and the Rock smelled blood. It was their own, as Iannucci got the only goal the rest of the way, a shorthanded tally with 44 seconds left.

Ratcliff led Toronto with seven points, on 3 goals and 4 assists. In the final game of his sixteen-year career, Jim Veltman tallied a goal and four assists for the Rock. Iannucci led the Wings with four goals and an assist.