Shawn Palmer, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Matt Zambonin
The Georgia Swarm (7-4) visited Ottawa on Friday night February 28, 2025, after winning in OT last weekend over Toronto. The Black Bears (5-6) had dropped last weekends’ contest against Halifax and wanted to put one in the “W” column. Both teams are currently in the playoff picture, but a loss could derail those aspirations. Ottawa defeated Georgia the last time they met 14 – 10 and were hoping to sweep the season series, but Georgia was having none of that and the contest became a game of runs. Georgia would score five in a row in the first, Ottawa would score five of their own in the second, but the difference in the game turned out to be the six in a row that Georgia put up to end the third and carry over to the fourth. Final Score: Swarm 15—Black Bears 9.
Just 30 seconds in Jeff Teat (4G, 3A) made a nice cross-floor pass to Connor Kearnan (1G, 5A) and his high-to-high shot went over Brett Dobson’s (42 saves) shoulder and into the top corner to get them on the board 1-0. Less than a minute later while in transition Kearnan would fake a shot and instead passed it to Jacob Dunbar (2G) whose quick stick shot went short side for an early 2 – 0 Ottawa lead. Georgia got one back and in turn, shut out the Black Beas for the remainder of the frame with their first five-goal run. Brendan Bomberry (1G, 3A) passed to Shayne Jackson (2G, 3A) behind the net, he dove in front and beat Zach Higgins to the stick side to make it 2 – 1 for Ottawa. Less than a minute later Andrew Kew (3G, 3A) would scoop the loose ball in front and went stick side to tie the game at two. And the Swarm just kept going. Bomberry would come across the top and his high-to-high side arm shot on the run beat Higgins over the shoulder giving Georgia their first lead at 3 – 2. The Swarm would go man down on an illegal substitution call with 9:57 left in the frame and would put a shorthanded tally. Jackson passed from behind the net to L. Thompson and his sidearm bounce shot went far side increasing their lead to 4 – 2 giving him his 350th NLL Career goal. The final marker in the frame came with 7:01 on the ticker. From near the restraining line Jackson would rip a high-to-high shot that beats Higgins over the shoulder for Georgia’s fifth straight goal and it was 5 – 2 for the Swarm. A defensive battle ensued for the last half with neither team tickling the twine. The shots on goal after the first period were Ottawa 13 and Georgia 12.
Ottawa opened the scoring in the second quarter and would control the frame with a five-goal run of their own. Jacob Dunbar (2G) got things started early on, would beat his defender down low, faked a flip pass and his shot to the far side beat Dobson stopping the Swarm run making it 5 – 3 for Georgia. A minute later Teat would pass to Riley O’Connor (1G) in the middle and his shot back to the side that he came from, went stick side low and the lead was cut to one for the Swarm 5 – 4. Two and half minutes later, while on a delayed penalty and with an extra attacker on the floor, Larson Sundown (1G, 1A) was the recipient of a pass from Kearnan at the side of the crease and his quick stick shot beat Dobson short side to tie the game at five. The Black Bears would take the lead less than 30 seconds later. Teat cut towards the net, fell down, got back up, beat his defender down low and his shot went stick side to make it 6 – 5 for Ottawa with just over nine minutes left in the first half. Four minutes later, while in transition, Jake Stevens (1A) would pass to Teat who was in the offensive zone and his overhand shot beat Dobson over the glove hand shoulder increasing their lead to 7 – 5. Georgia would finally halt the Ottawa run with 4:44 left in the half. Seth Oakes (3G, 1A) crossed the top, fired a low sidearm shot that squeezed through Higgins legs and rolled over the line to make it 7 – 6 for Ottawa. The shots on goal at the end of the first half were Ottawa 28 and Georgia 24.
Kew would get things going for Georgia in the third quarter off a pass in the middle from Jordan MacIntosh (2A) and his behind the back shot went glove side tying the game at seven with just over 12 minutes left in the quarter. Ottawa would regain the lead a couple of minutes later. Kiel Matisz (3A) would pass across the floor to Teat and his bounce shot beat Dobson five-hole for his hat trick goal and it was 8 – 7 Ottawa. The Swarm would get that one back a minute later. L. Thompson flipped a pass to Miles Thompson (1G, 2A) and he dunked the ball over the shoulder of Higgins to tie it at eight. A minute later L. Thompson would cut underneath his defender, dove across the crease and beat Higgins far side and Georgia would retake the lead 9 – 8. They would add to their lead on a delayed penalty when Oakes fired a high-to-high shot that went over the shoulder and the lead was two 10 – 8. Georgia notched their fourth in a row 34 seconds later which also closed out the frame. MacIntosh looked like he was going to shoot but instead passed to Bryan Cole (1G) who was behind the net, he dove forward and put the ball behind Higgins to make it 11 – 8 Swarm. The shots at the end of the third quarter were Ottawa 39 and Georgia 37.
The Swarm would open up the final frame with another from Kew scoring his hat trick goal off a pass from L. Thompson and his side arm shot beat Higgins off the cross bar and in to make it 12 – 8. Their next tally came while in transition. Joey Cupido (1A) passed the full length of the floor to L. Thompson, he made a one-handed catch and took a shot that went short side to make it 13 – 8. Ottawa came right back 30 seconds later to put up their final goal on the night. Kearnan passed to Teat in front, he faked short side, then far side and finally shot a twister that beat Dobson to the short side, and it was 13 – 9 for Georgia. Less than a minute later, the Swarm would find the back of the net while in transition. Jacob Hickey passed to a breaking Oakes off the bench, he dove across the crease and beat Higgins over the shoulder to make it 14 – 9 with just over seven minutes left in the fourth. Another goal in transition for Georgia came when Jeff Hendrick (1G) received a pass from Bomberry while he was all alone in front and after a fake, he beat Higgins to the glove side increasing the Georgia lead to six at 15 – 9. Georgia would end the game on a five-minute power play and were in no hurry to score and would run down the time to end the game. At the end of the game the shots on goal were 52 – 49.
The three stars of the game were:
Lyle Thompson – Georgia Swarm: 3 Goals, 3 Assists
Jeff Teat – Ottawa Black Bears: 4 Goals , 3 Assists
Andrew Kew – Georgia Swarm: 3 Goals, 3 Assists
GAME STATS:
Georgia Swarm—SOG 46; Saves 42; Sv% .824; FO 8-28; PP 0-2; PIM 12
Ottawa Black Bears—SOG 51; Saves 31; Sv% .675; FO 20-28; PP 0-3; PIM 13
NEXT UP:
The Ottawa Black Bears (5-6) have a bye week and will be back in action hosting the Rochester Knighthawks (6-7)***, on Saturday March 15, 2025, game time 3:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+, while fans in Canada get to catch the action on TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.
The Georgia Swarm (7-4) will host the Saskatchewan Rush (9-2) at Gas South Arena on Saturday March 8, 2025, game time 7:30 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+, while fans in Canada get to catch the action on TSN+. The game will also be televised on NLL+.
Shawn Palmer, NLL Correspondent
rosse is Awesome©
***Record at time of article