The Minnesota Swarm lived up their nickname Saturday night, using a stifling defense and great goaltending to beat the Rochester Knighthawks 12-11 at The Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial. The loss made it three straight home opening losses for Rochester and four of the last five.

"There are 10 good teams in the league this year and we just came out flat again," said K-Hawks alternate captain John Grant.

Minnesota Swarm goalie Matt Disher was solid in goal, making 40 saves and Craig Conn and Jon Harasym registered three goals and one assist each. Conn was named the Game MVP, as he also won 15 faceoffs and recorded 15 loose balls. He was acquired by Minnesota in the NLL Dispersal Draft from the Vancouver Ravens, where he was an All-Rookie Team member in 2003-04.

The Knighthawks were led by Grant, who notched five goals and three assists in his first game back since suffering an ACL injury on January 31, 2004. Mike Accursi (1+4) and Shawn Williams (3+2) each recorded five points for the K-Hawks.

The Swarm, playing their first game in National Lacrosse League history, looked hungry and dominated the loose ball category, winning that battle 90-64. That translated into an early lead they would seldom relinquish. Minnesota grabbed a 10-6 halftime lead and never looked back. Rochester led only once all night, taking a 4-3 lead on Grant's first of the game at 1:35 when he tipped a Williams’ pass past Disher.

Minnesota, however, responded with seven of the next nine goals in the second quarter. Harasym led the charge with two goals during the stretch. The Swarm struck quickly and often, netting three goals in 2:09 and three more in 1:59.

In the second half, Rochester settled down and chipped away at the lead. Grant and Scott Evans beat Disher to cut the lead to 10-8 in the third quarter. Brock Boyle, however, gave the Swarm an 11-8 edge as he dove to his left and beat a sliding Pat O'Toole at 13:16.

In the fourth, Conn made it 12-8 at 0:12 after Regy Thorpe was given a major penalty for boarding. Rochester then rallied with two goals by Grant and one by Williams to narrow the gap to 12-11. Grant's goal came with just under one minute to play and gave the crowd of 8,532 some life.

That enthusiasm was subdued seconds later as Rochester had three chances to beat Disher, but mishandled two passes and Evans was stopped from 15 feet out.

Rochester has a week off and will remain home to host the Arizona Sting at 7:35 p.m. at The Blue Cross Arena. The game will be broadcast on News Talk 950 WROC and knighthawks.net. The first 1,500 fans will receive a Knighthawks T-shirt from Chase-Pitkin.