Panther City Woes Continue as They Drop Third in a Row While Georgia Stays Hot 1/6/24

Shawn Palmer, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©

Featured Image Photo Credit: Asher Greene

The Panther City Lacrosse Club (1-3) travelled to Georgia to play the Swarm on Saturday January 6, 2024. Georgia was looking to improve on their 3 – 1 record while Panther City was hoping to get back to .500 at 2 – 2. It was a tale of two halves as Georgia jumped out to a big first half lead and Panther City was able to chip away at that lead in the second half, tying the game at 10 halfway through the fourth quarter. But, Georgia would pull it out with two goals late in the game to get the win. Final Score: Georgia 12—Panther City 10.

Starting out the first, Georgia would go on an early power play and after some good ball movement Andrew Kew (2G, 3A) threw a behind the back pass to Shayne Jackson (6G, 4A) and his bounce shot beat Nick Damude (12 saves) to the far side for the early 1 – 0 lead. Panther City tied it up a little over four minutes later on their own power play. Phil Caputo (2G, 1A) got the pass from Will Malcolm (4A) in front of the crease and beat Brett Dobson (48 saves) to the stick side to make it one all halfway through the frame. It took three and a half minutes for the next marker to go up and it was the Swarm who would go on a three-goal run. While short handed Jackson passed to Kew at the top and his shot beat Damude through the legs to make it 2 – 1. On the same power play Lyle Thompson (3G) fired a sidearm bounce shot from close to the restraining line and went top corner for their second short handed goal in a row and it was 3 – 1 for Georgia. The final tally would come with 1:49 remaining. Zach Miller (1A) set a pick for Jackson, he moved across the top and his high to low shot went low to the stick side increasing the Georgia lead to three at 4 – 1. The shots at the end of the first quarter were Georgia 12—Panther City 10.

Panther City would open the scoring in the second quarter just 27 seconds in. Callum Crawford (3G, 5A) fired a high-to-high shot from the top that beat Dobson over the shoulder into the top corner and it was 4 – 2 for the Swarm. Georgia would put up the next two, the first while in transition Bryan Cole (1G, 3A) went on a breakaway faked low and went high over the shoulder to make it 5 – 2. Less than a minute later L. Thompson would get his second on the night when he took a sidearm shot from way outside that beat Damude to the stick side making it 6 – 2 for Georgia with 12 minutes left in the first half. It was then that Panther City would switch goalies and Cam MacLeod (23 saves) was in net in place of Damude. That gave them a bit of a spark as he’d keep the Swarm out of the net for almost eight minutes. Panther City would go on the power play and with 4:50 left in the half, while on the power play, Jonathan Donville (1G, 1A) found himself alone, drove to the net and beat Dobson far side closing the gap to three, 6 – 3 Georgia. Panther City would score their second in a row when Crawford passed to Jason Knox (1G) and his shot went top corner on the far side to make it 6 – 4 for the Swarm. Once again, the Swarm would rattle off three more. The first cane while in transition when Jackson came off the bench, got the pass from Liam Byrnes (2A), he dove across the crease and beat MacLeod to the far side for his hat-trick giving Georgia a 7 – 4 lead with two minutes left in the half. A minute later Kew would come across the top and his twister shot went short side and Georgia had doubled up Panther City 8-4. The final marker in the half was another in transition. Cole came down the right side, fed the pass to Jackson and his quick stick beat Macleod to the empty side of the net and it was 9 – 4 Georgia. The shots on goal after the first half were Georgia 28—Panther City 28.

Panther City would blank Georgia in the third. Tony Malcolm (1G, 1A) opened it up with a bounce shot from the outside that went five-hole and it was 9 – 5 Georgia. A minute and a half later, Crawford would get the pass from Malcolm while cutting in front of the net on his wrong side and took a twister shot that went far side and the Georgia lead had been cut to three 9 – 6. It took almost seven minutes before they’d score again. While on the power play Crawford made a behind the back pass to Mathieu Gauthier (1G, 1A) at the far side of the net and his quick stick went to the open side and the lead was now two, 9 – 7 Georgia. Ryan Sheridan (1G, 1A) continued the run for Panther City off a pass from Donville who was behind the net, he went around his defender and beat Dobson to the far side to make it 9 – 8 with less than a minute left in the third. The shots at the end of the third were Panther City 42—Georgia 33.

With just 39 seconds off the clock in the final frame, while on a delayed penalty Caputo would pick up a loose ball in front of the net and went stick side tying the game at nine early. The lead lasted less than two minutes as the Swarm, while in transition would have Mike Manley (1A) run the floor, feed to Jackson off the bench and he beat Macleod to the far side for his fifth goal of the game to make it 10 – 9 for Georgia. Once again, both netminders stood stall in their nets and did not allow another tally for almost eight minutes. It would be Panther City to break the drought. While shorthanded Crawford would wait until the shot clock was running low and with two defenders on him, fired a side arm shot to the short side beating Dobson to tie the game at 10 for his hat trick goal. The last two tallies came late in the fourth. Jackson would score his sixth of the game again in transition. He was the recipient of a full floor pass when he came off the bench and beat MacLeod to the far side putting the Swarm back up by one 11 – 10. They would extend their lead with L. Thompson taking a shot from the outside and he’d beat MacLeod for his hat trick goal with 2:40 left. Neither team found the back of the net again. The shots at the end of the game were Panther City 57—Georgie 46. Final Score: Georgia 12—Panther City 10.

The Three Stars of the game were:
Shayne Jackson – Georgia Swarm: 6G, 4A
Callum Crawford – Panther City: 3G, 5A
Andrew Kew – Georgia Swarm: 2G, 3A

NEXT UP:

The Georgia Swarm (4-1) will be back at home when they play host to the league leading Albany FireWolves (5-0) on Saturday January 13^th, 2024, game time 7:30 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada get to see the action on TSN+.

The Panther City Lacrosse Club (1-3) also play on January 13^th, 2024, and will head out on the road to face the New York Riptide (0-3), game time 7:30 p.m., EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. Fans in Canada get to see the action on TSN+.