Justin Ivey, Co-Editor
Lacrosse is Awesome©
The Georgia Swarm finished the season as the #4 seed this year, and as a reward they welcomed the three-time defending champion Buffalo Bandits, the #5 seed, in the opening round. The Saturday night game was the first home playoff game for the Swarm since 2019. Buffalo had been playing playoff-style lacrosse for weeks after an early-season slump forced them to play catch-up. Georgia had been battling for playoff position, and the home crowd proved to be a benefit last night. The Bandits offense could not find any momentum, and when they did generate quality chances, NLL MVP favorite Brett Dobson (10GA, 36SV) was exceptional in net. Josh Byrne (1G, 5A) and Dhane Smith (2A) were held to only one combined goal and seven assists. The young Swarm were led by veteran Lyle Thompson (4G, 6A), who set the tone early and often. Nolan Byrne (3G, 3A), Richie Connell (3G, 2A), and Shayne Jackson (3G, 2A) all finished with hat tricks as Georgia ran away with the game in the second quarter. They would hold a four-goal halftime lead that the Bandits could not overcome. Final Score: Buffalo Bandits – 10, Georgia Swarm – 17.
On the Swarm’s first offensive possession, Thompson opened the scoring. Off ball, he rolled around a screen and caught a feed from Byrne. All alone, he dropped his shoulders and fired the ball over the stick-side shoulder of Matt Vinc (17GA, 34SV). The Bandits evened things up with 8:46 left in the first. Dylan Robinson (1G) took a transition ball all the way to the net, pushing the ball over Dobson’s shoulders. Just under a minute later, Kaleb Benedict (2G, 4A) bounced in a goal on the run to return the lead to Georgia. The Swarm did not give the lead back for the rest of the game. Benedict added another before the quarter ended for his second in a row. At the end of the first quarter, Georgia led Buffalo 3-1.
The second quarter started with another trade of goals. Byrne stretched the lead to three with a hard bounce shot from the point, but Ian MacKay (3G, 2A) answered for Buffalo just over a minute later. Then the Swarm found a streak. Byrne scored his second goal of the quarter on the first power-play opportunity of the game. Just over a minute later, Jackson fired in a low shot from outside. On the second penalty of the game, Byrne again scored on the power play, and Jackson again provided the encore with another goal. With eight minutes left in the half, Georgia’s four-goal run put them ahead 8-2. Buffalo would scrap to outscore Georgia 3-1 over the remainder of the quarter. Clay Scanlan (1G) ended up all alone on the crease after a pick-and-roll, caught the feed from MacKay, and finished in the top corner. Connell scored with a lefty rip from outside to the delight of the home crowd, but Buffalo ended the quarter with two unassisted goals in the final two minutes. Cam Wyers (1G) picked up a dead ball in the offensive zone. His initial shot was blocked by Dobson even though he was 10 feet outside the goal, but he recovered the rebound and dunked it low from behind the net. Mitch de Snoo (1G, 1A) ran the full length of the turf before scoring low and away on the run. At the half, Georgia led Buffalo 9-5.
Scoring was not as furious coming out of the half, but it started quickly. Thompson scored just 38 seconds in with a bounce shot after a feed from behind the net. Almost five minutes of scoreless lacrosse followed before Joe Resetarits (1G, 2A) scored for the Bandits. His shot from the point bounced through Dobson’s five-hole. Another nearly five minutes passed before Georgia answered. Ben Trumble (1G) got in front of the Bandits in transition, caught the feed from Kason Tarbell (1A), and beat Vinc from in close. With 38 seconds left, Bryan Cole (1G, 3A) scored from the crease, extending the lead to six. At the end of the third quarter, Georgia led Buffalo 12-6.
In the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, the Swarm scored three unanswered goals. A dunk goal from Thompson came first, 1:26 into the fourth, and was followed by Connell’s second goal of the evening. With 11:00 left in the game, Thompson scored his fourth. Rolling around a screen at the point, he fired sidearm to put the Swarm up 15-6. Under a minute later, MacKay gave Buffalo some life with a power-play goal. Almost two minutes after that, MacKay scored again to get Buffalo within seven, but the Swarm buckled down. While the defense stood tall, Jackson scored on a Georgia power play and Connell completed his hat trick with 4:10 left. With under a minute to play, Kyle Buchanan (1G) and Byrne scored for Buffalo, but it was too late to make a comeback. Final Score: Buffalo Bandits -10, Georgia Swarm – 17.
Up Next:
The #4 Georgia Swarm will host the #8 seed Halifax Thunderbirds on Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 PM EDT.