Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Asher Greene
It was opening night for both the Georgia Swarm (1-0) and the Colorado Mammoth (0-1) and Colorado would head to Gas South Arena in Duluth, GA for the first of two meetings between the teams in the 2023-24 season. The Mammoth had won 21 of 30 meetings between the two teams and had won six straight but tonight would be a different story as Colorado held the lead in the early minutes but the Swarm would got the lead and retained it for the remainder. The Mammoth would be without some key players including Dillon Ward who was injured playing in the PLL; Ryan Lee is out indefinitely; Joey Cupido has an Achilles tear and is out for most if not all of the season; and Josh Sullivan, Evan Downey, Noah Lebar and Jalen Chaster were out as well. Connor Kelly would make his debut in a Mammoth jersey along with Paul Dawson. But the night was just not going to go in favor of Colorado, and they would lose big. Final Score: Swarm 16—Mammoth 10.
Colorado would win the opening face off, but the teams would be scoreless for the first four. Finally at the 4:00 minute mark, Eli McLaughlin (2g, 3a) would get the cross crease pass from Tyson Gibson (1g, 4a) and he’d dunk it in far side to get them on the board 1-0. It took only 36 seconds for the Swarm to respond. Brendan Bomberry (2g) got the flip toss from Jeremy Thompson, dove through the crease and put it in far side to tie it 1-1. The teams would battle back and forth for a couple of minutes before McLaughlin would go underneath and under the pads of Brett Dobson (39 saves) 6:24 in to take the lead 2-1. This would be the last time Colorado would have the lead. Georgia would go man up on a delay of game penalty at the 6:55 mark and Lyle Thompson (4g, 3a) with a little shovel shot went under the glove of Tyler Carlson (35 saves) for a power-play tally and tied it up at 7:24. Twenty-two seconds later, Shayne Jackson (3g, 2a) would fire a lefty shot through the wickets to take the lead 3-2 that they would not relinquish. Andrew Kew (1g, 4a) would get his lone goal on the night from the outside, it hit the top pipe, left post and ricocheted into the net with 5:59 left 4-2 Swarm. The next goal was signature Chris Wardle (2g, 2a) as he was behind the cage, jumped and dunked it behind Dobson with 4:46 left for his 100th career goal and it was 4-3 Swarm. On the ensuing face-off, J. Thompson not only won the face-off but then scooped the ball and headed straight for the cage and fired a nice bounce shot far side with 4:39 left and they were up by two 5-3. That was it in the frame and the Swarm would take a lead into the second 5-3.
The second quarter was all Swarm although Colorado started it off with another from Wardle. In front, while falling down he dunked it over the shoulder of Dobson 3:39 in but this was as close as Colorado could get at 5-4. Adam Weideman(1g) would score on the backdoor with a beautiful twister shot in the air, he’d fake right and came back left at 5:20 putting them back up 6-4. It took less than two minutes before L. Thompson would get around his defender and tucked it in the lower corner with 7:52 to go 7-4 Swarm. After another three ticked off the timer before the Mammoth would get their final tally in the half. Tyson Gibson (1g, 4a) sent a cross field pass to Connor Kelly (3g, 2a) faked like he was setting a pick and dunked it in for his first goal as a Mammoth with 4:34 in the half to get them back to within two 7-5. In the last three minutes, the Swarm would put up three more. From distance, Brady Kearnan (1g) would fire it across his body and find the top corner for his first career NLL goal with 3:26 left and it was 8-5. With 1:19 to go, L. Thompson would fight off his defender and as he was falling down, he went five-hole 9-5 Swarm. Jackson would close it out on the crease. He’d fake left, went right and dunked it over the shoulder of Carlson with 21 seconds in the half to double up the Mammoth. Score at the end of two: Swarm 10—Mammoth 5.
Stats at the end of the first half:
Colorado—SOG 21; FO 8-16; LB 39; TO 14; PP 0-0; Saves 17
Georgia—SOG 28; FO 8-16; LB 45; TO 13; PP 1-1; Saves 16
Neither team could find their offense in the third and the fans would see only two goals. L. Thompson flipped a BTB pass to Seth Oakes (3g, 1a), he faked left then right and fired it top corner stick side 4:12 in 11-5 Swarm. The final goal came with 7:33 to go when Connor Robinson (1g, 2a) came across his body and went five-hole to make it 11-6. The Mammoth would get their second power-play opportunity with 6:56 in the frame but they could not find the back of the net. Score at the end of three: Swarm 11—Mammoth 6.
It didn’t take long for Georgia to start it off in the fourth. L. Thompson with a stutter step around his defender he would go airborne, looked as those he was walking on air and dunked it far side just 19 seconds in and once again, they had doubled up the Mammoth 12-6. But Colorado wasn’t going away just yet. Just 17 seconds later, Tyson Gibson (1g, 4a) faked high, went low and it was 12-7. They’d get their first and only back-to-back goals of the game when Dylan Kinnear (1g) fought his way to the net, dove through the crease and put it in far side 2:18 in to make it 12-8. But it only took 1:05 for the Swarm to score again. Oakes pulled his stick back across his body and bounced one in near side 13-8. Three minutes later, Kelly from the left side on the run would fire one far side 5:46 into the frame to get them back to within four 13-9. But Georgia would go on a three-goal run to seal it up for the night. Bomberry with a quick stick got the cross-field pass and went near side with 7:28 to go 14-9. Oakes would notch his hat-trick from way out with a shot five-hole with 5:13 left 15-9; but they’d have one called back on an illegal screen with 4:21 to go or it would have been 16-9. The Mammoth would get hit with another penalty, this time a slashing call with 2:30 to go and Jackson would notch his hat-trick with 2:16 off a nice give and go 16-9 Georgia. Colorado would get one last chance to score on the man up. With 1:45 left in the frame, the Swarm would get hit with a penalty and with 1:28 to go, Kelly fired it high-to-low near side for his first hat-trick as a Mammoth. In the closing seconds with 37.9 on the clock the fisticuffs broke out. Dylan Kinner and Mike Manley went to blows; then Jordan Gilles and Jeff Henrick got in on the action. When all was said and done, Henrick was hit with a 15-minute major; Connor Kelly was hit with a two minute penalty; Jordan Gilles went to the box along with Robert Hope; Brian Cole and Paul Dawson. Colorado would be on a five on four for the last 35 seconds, but nothing hit net. Final Score: Swarm 16—Mammoth 10.
FINAL STATS:
Colorado—SOG 50; FO 15-29; PP 1-2; Saves 35; GA 16; Save% .700
Georgia—SOG 50; FO 14-29; PP 2-5; Saves 39; GA 10; Save% .780
STARS OF THE GAME:
Lyle Thompson, Georgia Swarm—4g, 3a
Shayne Jackson, Georgia Swarm—3g, 2a
Connor Kelly, Colorado Mammoth—3g, 2a
NEXT UP:
The Colorado Mammoth (0-1) have a bye-week and will be back in action for their home opener at the Loud House on Friday December 22, 2023, against the Georgia Swarm (1-0). Game time 9:00 p.m. EST. For fans in the USA, they can catch the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the action on TSN+.
The Georgia Swarm (1-0) will head out west to face the Vancouver Warriors (0-1) at Rogers Arena on Saturday December 16, 2023. Game time 10:00 EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can watch the game on TSN5 or TSN+.
Di Miller, Colorado Mammoth Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©