Dan Dawson, Craig Conn and Matt Brown recorded hat tricks as the Arizona Sting defeated the San Jose Stealth, 16-13, Friday night at Glendale Arena.

The win clinches the final Western Division playoff berth for the Sting, putting the Stealth out of the postseason for the second straight year.

Sting fans were on their feet to start the game (Fan Appreciation Night, mind you) after a goal by Peter Veltman just one minute in. San Jose came back to tie the game at 1-1 on a Jarrett Park goal four and a half minutes later.

Conn scored his first goal of the night at 6:37, on the Sting's second power play, but San Jose got the next three goals, the first two by Gary Rosyski.

After Rosyski's second, Curt Malawsky appeared to tie the game at 3-3, but was ruled to be in the crease. Luke Wiles capitalized a short time later for the Stealth, which was then up 4-2.

Back came Arizona, in a big way. Pat Maddalena and Dawson combined to tie the game with just under five minutes left in the quarter.

Lindsay Plunkett then put the Sting ahead, Matt Brown continued the run with an outside shot and an unassisted tally, and Dawson scored with 13 seconds left, for an 8-4 Sting lead at the end of the first period.

During Arizona's six-goal run, San Jose netminder Anthony Cosmo was replaced by Brandon Miller, but Cosmo was back in to begin the second quarter. The Stealth got off to a good start, on a goal by Derek Malawsky nineteen seconds into the quarter.

Curt Malawsky answered his brother's goal 42 seconds later, off a rebound, and the game remained 9-5 for the next eight minutes.

Conn broke the deadlock at 9:23, but Wiles scored his second of the night in the final minute of the first half. At the break: Arizona 10, San Jose 6.

Derek Malawsky of the Stealth opened the second-half scoring, but was answered by two Sting goals in the next two and a half minutes, including Conn's hat-trick clincher.

San Jose held the Sting scoreless for the rest of the period, scoring twice in the meantime (Cam Sedgwick and Kyle Neufeld) to move to within 12-9.

Rosyski scored to begin the fourth-quarter scoring, with the Stealth now within 12-10, but Dan Dawson and Curt Malawsky scored the next two, restoring Arizona's four-goal lead with about eleven minutes to play.

San Jose answered with power play goals by Sedgwick and Wiles, but after six minutes of scoreless action, Sting captain Peter Lough scored on an empty net and, just a minute later, Maddalena recorded his second goal of the night.

San Jose's Chad Thompson finished the scoring in the final minute, on a long pass from Cosmo.

The three stars of the game were Dawson (three goals, three assists), Brown (three goals, four assists), and Conn (three goals, three assists).

Arizona and San Jose meet again tomorrow night at HP Pavilion, in the regular season finale for both clubs.