Blazers Ignite Their Fans With a 13 to 8 Win Over Minnesota Swarm
In their final home game of the 2010 season, the Blazers treated their largest home crowd of the year to an exciting win over a tough Minnesota Swarm squad.
The inside of the TD Garden glowed a deep red as the announcer belted out the names of the Blazer players.
Soon the game was in full gear as the two teams went racing for the ball. One player scooped up the ball passing it to their teammate. Since the rules say you can only hold the ball for 30 seconds, passing was fast and physical. Forty-two seconds into the game Blazer’s Daryl Veltman scored the first goal. Within two minutes, the Swarm’s Benesch fired back with a goal but three minutes later Blazer’s Mat Giles put the home team back on top. Within a minute, Blazer’s Dan Dawson added to lead during a power play. Scoring went back and forth until the 4th quarter. Blazers maintained a slight lead with a score of 9-8. Then Blazers, Nick Cotter scored an amazing 4 goals within 8 minutes, one being a short handed, setting the Blazers up for victory. It was a great finish with Blazer’s Ryan Hotaling scored the final goal with an under the leg shot zipping it past the Swarm’s goalie.
The Blazers and the Swarm players were not the only ones who got into the action. The Garden was loud from the 10,000 fans cheering. A lucky group of fans got to go onto the field just before the game forming a tunnel for the Blazer players to run through. Everyone was giving high fives. During the quarter breaks students from local schools got to perform dances on the field. Also, lacrosse players from local teams participated in skills competition. One of the players jumped on a teammate’s back, did a trick in the air, and took a shot on goal.
The announcer was really fun. When the Swarm players got a penalty, the crowd would chant “Take your seat!” When the Blazer’s goaltender made a great save, the announcer would yell “O!”and the crowd would reply, “Cosmo!” When there were 10 seconds left in the game, the announcer sang “If you are happy and you know it clap your hands.”
At the post-game press conference, Coach Tom Ryan, Captain Dan Dawson, and top scoring Nick Cotter said “this win gave us a lot of momentum going into the final stretch of the season. We played much better as a team than last Saturday.”
If you want to join in the fun, the Blazer’s season is from January to April. Come watch the Blazers at the TD Garden defeat one of their 11 opponents from the National Lacrosse League.
Ryan Loughran attends grade 2 at the Cunniff Elementary School in Watertown.
The Blazers Beat is a student reporter program which provides high school students access to the Garden on game nights. Students will receive a media credential for a game of their choice, access to the post-game player and coach press conference and can write a game recap which the Blazers will help to publish with their local papers. For more information, contact Krista Olson, Marketing & Event Operations Manager at krista@blazerslacrosse.com.