Sports Radio Service


		Stealth blow another one at home By Jeremy Harness March 13, 2005

	SAN JOSE - Think of this year’s San Jose Stealth as that deadbeat dad that says he’s coming back home for good, to recapture that father-son relationship that had been missing for many years. Each time, he brings forth promise, getting his son all giddy with anticipation of what is soon to be. He may show up for a few minutes before bidding farewell to the family he used to have but doesn’t care to have anymore. Oftentimes at HP Pavilion, the Stealth start out their games smoking hot, only to fizzle out of control in the second half and allow their opposition. It doesn’t matter how good (Colorado) or pathetic (Minnesota) the opponent may be, San Jose has yet to find a way to hold it together with the game hanging in the balance. Saturday night was just another example of the repeated cycle of the Stealth’s futility when playing on their home turf. Their 12-10 loss to Arizona marked their fourth defeat in five home games this season, not to mention their second straight loss to the Sting (6-4) in as many nights. Arizona also clipped the Stealth Friday night in overtime, 13-12, at Glendale Arena. Like many home games for the past two seasons, San Jose appeared to run away to an easy victory early and jetted out to a 6-1 lead, thanks to two early goals by Mike Regan, who was playing in his first game since coming out of retirement. But the Stealth would find a way to squander that lead, when Jim Moss was tagged for a four-minute roughing penalty at the end of the first period. With San Jose’s intimidator in the box, Arizona quickly cut the lead to two goals before the Stealth rallied to give themselves an 8-5 lead at halftime. After Matt Oglesby scored in the opening minute of the second half, the Sting answered with a 3-0 run to cut the lead to a single goal. The Stealth provided the Sting with another golden opportunity - a penalty and an illegal line change by San Jose giving them a two-man advantage - but goalie Anthony Cosmo, who was rock solid in the first quarter, stood strong to deny Arizona. However, the Sting did tie the game at 9-9 when forward Jason Clark snuck one past Cosmo with more than 30 seconds left in the third period before taking the lead on Cory Bomberry’s goal in the opening minute of the fourth. Minutes later, Curt Malawsky took a brilliant pass from his brother, Derek, and threw one past Arizona goalie Ken Montour to tie it back up. Derek had three goals against Arizona on Saturday. But the Sting put the game away in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Bomberry reclaiming the lead for Arizona with 5:26 remaining, and Peter Lough adding an empty-netter with 51 seconds left. The Stealth last won a home game Jan. 29, when they slipped past Colorado, 12-10, to give them their first win over the Mammoth since moving to San Jose. The Stealth will play another home-and-home series next weekend, this time against the defending NLL champions, the Calgary Roughnecks.