Stealth hold off Swarm for playoff win

Published 11:41 pm Saturday, May 1, 2010

EVERETT — When the Washington Stealth needed a goal, Rhys Duch was there to provide it.

Duch, the reigning National Lacrosse League overall player of the week, netted two momentum crushing goals in the third quarter to halt a Minnesota rally and help the Stealth earn a 14-10 win in a West Division semifinal matchup Saturday night at Comcast Arena.

Duch, who earned his second consecutive sock-trick with six goals and five assists, put the brakes on a five-goal Swarm rally with a power-play blast from the perimeter with 9 minutes, 52 second remaining in the third quarter to give Washington a 9-7 lead.

Following a Sean Pollock one-timer for the Swarm, the No. 4 seed in the West Division, Duch earned the second sock-trick of his career, and first of his playoff career, thrilling the crowd of 3,268 with a behind the back goal with 1:59 remaining in the quarter.

As the second-year forward rushed to Minnesota goaltender Kevin Croswell’s left side, Duch flipped a shot around his body fooling Croswell and scoring over his right shoulder.

“That was a spectacular goal,” Stealth head coach Chris Hall said. “He (Duch) really seems like a man on a mission. He’s playing fantastic lacrosse right now.”

Washington let a first-half lead slip away by allowing the Swarm too many close chances at the net. An 8-2 lead quickly dissipated as Minnesota scored four unanswered goals to close the first half with seemingly all the momentum.

A fifth straight goal with 11:27 left in the third closed the gap to 8-7 before Duch’s game-changing goals.

“We got ourselves three penalties in a row and then turned the ball over on a face-off … we gave them four or five opportunities and I don’t think we hardly had the ball in that stretch and that’s when you’ve really got to be poised and disciplined and I thought we let that get away a little bit on us,” Hall said.

Minnesota forward Ryan Benesch started the rally when he put a rebound past Washington goaltender Tyler Richards with 7:25 remaining in the second quarter. The Stealth defense allowed Minnesota to force its way close to the net as the Swarm outshot Washington 17-14 in the second quarter and 59-51 for the contest.

“I think we took the foot off the gas pedal a little,” Stealth captain Jason Bloom said. “We got away from what was making us successful on defense (by getting too spread out).”

Jeff Zywicki, making his second appearance after missing three games with a lower-body injury, added five goals for the Stealth. Zywicki even borrowed some of Duch’s magic by getting his stick onto a Duch shot from the perimeter. Duch appeared to have scored his seventh goal of the game with 6.1 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but the ball caromed off Zywicki’s stick handle and into the net, crediting Zywicki with the goal and giving Washington an 11-8 lead.

“It was awesome,” Duch said of the deflection. “You’ve got to be lucky to be good, right?”

Despite losing in the face-off circle (16-12) and being outshot, Washington’s defense played well enough to hold the Swarm’s dangerous man-up unit to 1-for-5 scoring in power-play opportunities. The Stealth also didn’t give in to Minnesota’s physical brand of lacrosse, a point of emphasis during preparations. Washington was penalized just six times in the game with half of those coming during Minnesota’s second quarter surge.

Richards came up with his second strong game in a row with 49 saves, including 11 in the crucial third quarter.

“He’s seeing the ball real well and I think the defense is doing a good job for him by keeping the shots to the outside,” Bloom said. “When we do break down it’s our fault and he’s been there to back us up.”

Minnesota had four players score two goals and Benesch led the team with four points (one goal, three assists).

Washington faces a familiar Edmonton team next Saturday at Seattle’s KeyArena. Edmonton beat defending champion Calgary earlier Saturday to set up the West Division final. The Rush have won two straight over Washington heading into the matchup.

“Edmonton’s had our number twice this year, they’ve got a phenomenal team over there and if we don’t come out hard playing the way we need to we’re going to be in trouble,” Bloom said.