Shawn Palmer, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Brent Just
The No. 7 Seed Georgia Swarm travelled to Saskatoon to face the No. 2 Seed Saskatchewan Rush in the first round of the 2024-25 Playoffs on Saturday April 26, 2025. Georgia won their last game of the season over Buffalo to get into the playoffs, while Saskatchewan had clinched a spot in the playoffs a few weeks ago. Georgia started strong in the first quarter, but a four-goal run by the Rush gave them a two-goal lead to end the first quarter. Saskatchewan increased their lead at the end of the first half to three at 6 – 3. Georgia was able to get within one goal at 6 – 5 in the second half but that was as close as they could get as Jake Boudreau (4G) scored a hat trick in the fourth ensuring the Rush were able to move onto the next round to face the No. 3 Seed Halifax Thunderbirds. Final Score: Rush 13—Swarm 9.
The Swarm would open the scoring just 1:02 in. Joey Cupido (1A) passed to Jacob Hickey (1G) and his overhand shot beat Frank Scigliano (38 saves) stick side to give Georgia the early 1 – 0 lead. A few minutes later Lyle Thompson (1G, 2A) cut to the net, flipped the ball back to Brendan Bomberry (2G, 1A) and he fired a high-to-low shot under Scigliano’s stick side arm to double the lead to 2 – 0. Four minutes later, the Rush would cut the lead in half and proceed to tally four in a row. Austin Shanks (2G, 2A) got it started when he cut by his defender and beat Brett Dobson (46 Saves) to the far side to make it 2 – 1. Their next tally came in transition. Matt Hossack (3A) found Boudreau on a two-on-one, and he fired one over the shoulder to tie the game at two. Thirty seconds later Zach Manns (1G, 1A) would put a high to low shot glove side giving Saskatchewan the lead 3-2 which they would not relinquish. The Rush scored their fourth with just 1:07 left in the frame. Ryan Keenan (2G, 1A) got the feed from Robert Church (3A), cut to the net and went far side to make it 4 – 2. The shots on goal at the end of the first period were equal at 12 apiece.
The second got off to a slow start with Georgia once again striking first. Bomberry came in and his bounce shot beat Scigliano to the far side to make it 4 – 3 for the Rush with just over 9 minutes left in the frame. The Rush would get that one back 90 seconds later. Clark Walter (2G, 1A) fired a low to high laser that beat Dobson to the top corner increasing the lead to 5 – 3 for the Rush. Fans would watch a defensive battle over the next eight minutes before Saskatchewan finally found twine. On another transition opportunity, Mike Messenger(1G) made a one-handed pass to Hossack, he fed it back to Messenger who dove across the crease and his underhand twister shot went top corner with 50 seconds left in the first half. The Rush would head to the locker room having doubled up the Swarm 6 – 3. The shots on goal at the end of the first half were the Rush 28 and Swarm 24.
Once again, the Swarm would notch a marker first. Forty-five seconds into the third, Thompson went around his defender and his high-to-high shot beat Scigliano over the shoulder to cut the Rush lead to 6 – 4. Right after the goal Saskatchewan received a 5-minute major for cross checking allowing the Swarm to go to the power play. It took no time at all and only 13 seconds into the man up for Bryan Cole (2G, 1A) to fire a low to high shot from the top that went over the shoulder, and they were back to within one, 6 – 5. While still man down, Saskatchewan would notch a short-handed marker. Shanks was left all alone in front, he faked far and shot to the short side just 20 seconds later, restoring the two-goal lead at 7 – 5 for the Rush. The Swarm would fire back while in transition when Adam Wiedeman (2A) flipped a pass back to Jordan Macintosh (2G, 2A) and his bounce shot went glove side to make it 7 – 6 still in favor of the Rush. With only 38 seconds left in the third, the Rush would tally another. Walter cut around his defender, he stepped and fired a high to low shot that went short side, and the Rush lead was back to two, 8 – 6. The shots at the end of the third quarter were Saskatchewan 43 and Georgia 34.
Georgia would open up the fourth with two penalties only 1:07 in giving the Rush a five-on-three opportunity and they would tally two. The first came when Shanks passed to Keenan across the floor and his quick stick beat Dobson to the short side and it was 9 – 6 for the Rush. On the same power-play Boudreau poked the ball out of Thompson’s stick, ran the floor and went far side giving the Rush their largest lead of the night and out them up by four-goal to make it 10 – 6. Georgia would respond right back 29 seconds later. Shayne Jackson (1G) fired a high to low over hand shot that went in off of the far side post past Scigliano to cut the lead to three at 10 – 7. With less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter Dobson would make a great arm save, they moved down the floor, Cupido passed to Andrew Kew (1A) who passed to MacIntosh, his shot went five-hole and they had cut the lead back down to two, 10 – 8 Rush. With 1:13 left in the fourth quarter, Swarm Bench Boss Ed Comeau would pull their goalie for the extra attacker, unfortunately a missed pass allowed Boudreau to pick up the loose ball, he headed down the floor and deposited the ball into the empty net for his hat trick goal. The Rush led 11 – 8. With time winding down, the Swarm would make their push. On the next possession, Thompson would take a shot that Scigliano saved, Cole picked up the rebound and his low-to-low shot went far post 15 seconds later cutting the lead back to two, 11 – 9 for the Rush. After Jake Naso (1G) won an important face-off, Boudreau got the loose ball, passed to Naso and he threw the ball into the empty net sealing the win for Saskatchewan at 12 – 9. Georgia kept working to try and get back into the game, but Boudreau picked off a pass, went the length of the floor and threw some salt on the wound by beating Dobson with a shot to the glove side. Final Score: Rush 13—Swarm 9.
The players of the game were:
Jake Boudreau – Saskatchewan Rush: 4 goals
Austin Shanks – Saskatchewan Rush: 2 goals, 2 assists
Jordan MacIntosh – Georgia Swarm: 2 goals, 2 assists
GAME STATS:
Georgia Swarm—SOG 48; Saves 47; Sv% .783; FO 8-26; PP 1-4; PIM 12
Saskatchewan Rush—SOG 60; Saves 39; Sv% .813; FO 18-26; PP 2-6; PIM 9
The No. 2 Seed Saskatchewan Rush will now head to the Semi-Finals of the 2024-25 Playoffs and will face the No. 3 Seed Halifax Thunderbirds for the Best of Three series which starts next weekend.
Best-of-Three Schedule:
Game 1 – Saturday May 3 @ Halifax – Scotiabank Centre – 6:30PM EST Faceoff
Game 2 – Saturday May 10 @ Saskatchewan – Co-op Field – 9:30PM EST Faceoff
Game 3 – Sunday May 11 @ Saskatchewan – Co-op Field – 8PM EST Faceoff
The winner moves onto the NLL Finals for the Champions Cup to face either the No. 2 Seed Buffalo Bandits or the No. 4 Seed Vancouver Warriors.
Shawn Palmer, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©