Justin Ivey, Beat Writer New England Black Wolves
Lacrosse is Awesome
Less than 24 hours after the New England Black Wolves (6-7) lost at home to the Buffalo Bandits, they visited the Georgia Swarm (7-7) for their second game of the weekend. The Black Wolves were looking to rebound after a blowout loss to Buffalo, and the Swarm were hoping to climb in the standings of the tight East Division. Georgia jumped out to an early lead and thwarted the Black Wolves comeback effort in the second half to hold on for the win. Final Score: New England-12, Georgia-17.
Georgia started off the scoring at home. John Ranagan (1A) threw a perfect pass to Jordan MacIntosh (1g) on a two on one fast break and he easily beat Aaron Bold with a high to low shot. Three minutes later, Kevin Crowley (3G, 1A) tied the game at one. The goal extended Crowley’s consecutive games with a goal to 32. Shayne Jackson (3G, 3A) answered right back 26 seconds later with his first goal of the game. Under a minute later, Lyle Thompson (3G, 3A) increased the lead to two and with 5:54 left in the opening quarter his brother Miles Thompson (2G, 2A) made the score 4-1. The Georgia defense was stifling, and New England’s offense could not get out of the funk that carried over from a terrible offensive night on Friday. With 2:28 remaining, Randy Staats (3G, 1A) scored his first of the game and on the next Georgia possession Jesse King (2G, 3A) scored the fifth goal in a row for the home team. In a surprisingly lopsided stat, Georgia outshot New England 24-4 in the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, Georgia led New England 6-1.
Georgia started hot in the second quarter too. Bryan Cole (1G) scored just 54 seconds in and the Swarm had a six-goal lead. An unlikely source answered for New England. Brett Manney (1G) scored on a fast break opportunity on an assist from Derek Suddons (1A) to finally give the Black Wolves some hope. Joel White (1G) made sure the momentum didn’t swing and scored 5:25 in to get the lead back up to six. All seven of Georgia’s goals to start this game were scored by different players as their offense shared the ball without regard for personal accolades. Five minutes of scoreless lacrosse followed until Callum Crawford (3G, 3A) found the net with 4:22 left in the half. Again, Georgia had an answer. Jackson scored under a minute later, and then with 2:30 left in the half, Miles Thompson scored his second bringing the Georgia lead to seven. Again, Georgia had a huge advantage in shots for the second quarter. They took 14 to New England’s nine bringing the halftime totals to 38-13. At the half, Georgia led Toronto 10-3.
After the halftime break, Georgia found momentum quickly again. Staats scored just 1:21 in and the Swarm and a commanding eight goal lead. New England took a penalty, but after a great save Bold started the transition with a clear to Jay Thorimbert (1A) who fed Crawford for a short-handed goal. The goal was Crawford’s 300th of his career. Again, both defenses held strong for five minutes. The scoreless period was broken by Lyle Thompson and right off the ensuing faceoff, Staats completed his hat trick. With 5:32 left in the third quarter, Georgia now led 13-4. New England, playing from behind for the second night in a row, finally strung together a run to try and get back in the game. Kyle Buchanan (2G) scored less than 30 seconds after Staats, and a minute and a half later Crowley fired from outside for his second of the game. On the power play opportunity, Johnny Powless (1G, 1A) beat goaltender Mike Poulin to make it a three-goal run. In four minutes of action, New England cut the deficit from nine to six. Under a minute after the Powless goal, Leo Stouros (1G) took it all the way down the turf for an unassisted goal to end the streak. On the next Black Wolves possession, Crowley got it back, completing his hat trick with only 24 seconds left in the third. At the end of three, Georgia led New England 14-8.
New England finally found some early quarter momentum in the fourth. Adam Bomberry (1G, 1A) caught the clear pass from Bold and scored 55 seconds in. 44 seconds later, Crawford completed his hat trick and the Black Wolves were now only down four. Jackson ended the Black Wolves’ second three goal run with his third on the evening 4:45 in. New England wasn’t going to roll over. JP Kealey (1G) brought off the practice squad this week, scored with 7:43 remaining and Kyle Buchanan scored his second of the night under two minutes later. With 5:56 remaining in the game, the Black Wolves clawed back to get within three. The Georgia defense did not plan on letting the game slip away and did not allow any more good scoring chances. Lyle Thompson completed his hat trick with 3:42 remaining, and five seconds after the goal New England defender Joel Coyle (1A) was assessed a boarding major, and a game misconduct leaving the Black Wolves down a man for the remainder of the game. Georgia was comfortable just waiting out the clock, but King did capitalize on a scoring opportunity with 1:25 remaining to seal the deal. Final Score: New England-12, Georgia-17.
Up Next:
The New England Black Wolves (6-7) visit the Buffalo Bandits (7-7) on Saturday, March 31 at 7:30 PM.
The Georgia Swarm (7-7) enjoy a week off and then host the Toronto Rock (7-6) on Sunday, April 8 at 4:05 PM.