Justin Ivey, Correspondent New England Black Wolves
Lacrosse is Awesome©
The Georgia Swarm (6-2) were held to 10 goals at home Friday night by the New England Black Wolves (3-3) and they won. In a goaltender battle, Mike Poulin was able to out duel New England net-minder Alex Buque in front of 4,405 fans at Infinite Energy Arena. Lyle Thompson led the way on offense with three goals and four assists for Georgia, and Reilly O’Connor found his scoring groove again for New England tallying three goals and three assists. With the win, the Swarm now holds the season tiebreaker 2-1 winning both games at home. Final Score: New England-8, Georgia-10
It became obvious early in the first quarter that this was going to be a low scoring game. An early New England penalty was successfully lasted out, an unusual occurrence for the well-oiled Swarm offense. The first goal of the game didn’t come until almost seven minutes had been played. Reilly O’Connor (3G, 3A) broke the scoreless tie with a quick stick and Callum Crawford (3G, 2A) scored just under two minutes later giving the visiting Black Wolves a 2-0 lead. Georgia’s first goal didn’t come until there was 3:10 left to play. Shayne Jackson (1G, 1A) found the net and then just 21 seconds later Jordan MacIntosh (1G) tied the game 2-2. With the quarter counting down quickly, New England pulled Buque in favor of the extra attacker. The set didn’t go as planned. Chad Tutton (1G, 1A) worked hard for the turnover and fired in a long range shot on the empty net with only two seconds left, giving Georgia the lead after one quarter. At the end of the first quarter, Georgia led New England 3-2.
Each team would only muster one goal in the second quarter. Randy Staats (2G, 2A) threw an over the shoulder pass to Lyle Thompson (3G, 4A) 6:15 into the quarter for Georgia’s loan goal and Crawford charged the net to beat Poulin 7:54 in. With just about two minutes to play in the half, Buque made an outrageous series of saves. Blocking a shot that took him out of the net, he had to reach back with his stick to stop the attempt off the rebound. At the end of the first half, Georgia led New England 4-3.
New England came out hot in the third quarter. Rookie sensation Dereck Downs (1G) scored unassisted just 14 seconds in tying the game at four. Under a minute later, Crawford scored his hat trick goal to give the Black Wolves the lead. Georgia tied the game as L. Thompson returned the favor with an unassisted goal just under five minutes in. The defenses again found their footing and only allowed one more goal in the remaining ten minutes of the third quarter. Staats fired in a goal to give Georgia the lead with under five to play. At the end of the third quarter, Georgia led New England 6-5.
Again, New England was able to take advantage early in the fourth quarter. Tyler Digby (1G, 2A) scored on the assist from O’Connor just 22 seconds in. This time, Georgia answered with a three-goal run, their second of the game. Holden Cattoni (1G, 3A) scored with the extra attacker, Jerome Thompson (1G) found the net on an assist from Zed Williams (2A) and Staats rounded out the run with his second of the game. With just 5:33 of fourth quarter action played, Georgia suddenly led New England 9-6. The Black Wolves dug deep and scored the next two. Both came from O’Connor and the second was on the power play. With 5:22 remaining, New England was only down 9-8. L. Thompson extended the lead to two goals, again assisted by Staats with 4:30 left. A bit of a tussle broke out with 3:06 remaining and four players were sent to the box. For Georgia, Staats and Williams; and for New England Brett Manney and Joel Coyle. Georgia was able to hold off the Black Wolves attempts for the remaining time and leave with a win. Final Score: New England-8, Georgia-10
Up Next:
The Georgia Swarm (6-2) travel to play the Rochester Knighthawks (2-4) on Saturday, February 2 at 7:30 PM EST.
The New England Black Wolves (3-3) host the Rochester Knighthawks (2-4) on Friday, February 9 at 7:00 PM EST.
Justin Ivey, Correspondent New England Black Wolves
Lacrosse is Awesome©