Saturday night’s tilt between the Las Vegas Desert Dogs and the Georgia Swarm was more than a game. Fans piled into Lee’s Family Forum to celebrate the next installment of the “Tucker Cup”, as it was Tucker Out Lymphoma night in Las Vegas. These nights and games always mean a lot to the Desert Dogs, as head coach Shawn Williams is the father of the late Tucker Williams, who lost his battle with Burkitt’s Lymphoma some years ago. Saturday would have been Tucker’s 19th birthday, so the night was extra special. Both teams wore some pretty sweet custom uniforms for the always emotional evening.
If you’re a fan of offensive, fast-paced lacrosse, this was the game for you. With 30 total goals scored and a vigorous pace throughout the game, Georgia ran out of Sin City with a 16-14 victory.
Las Vegas presumably used the home crowd and the overall emotions of the night to jump out to an early two-goal lead. Casey Jackson and Adam Poitras went back-to-back, and the crowd inside The Den was buzzing. Georgia wasted little time getting those back, and then some, as they went on a three-goal run to close out the quarter. Goals were scored by Bryan Cole, Jordan MacIntosh, and Toron Eccleston, and the momentum had flipped. 3-2 Swarm after one.
Georgia tacked onto that run with two more to begin the second quarter, one from John Ranagan and the other from Eccleston. Kyle Killen stopped the run with his first, but Shayne Jackson answered right back. It was very evident that Georgia would have the answer every time Las Vegas mounted the slightest comeback. Jack Hannah buried his first, but Cole had the answer once again. Jackson Webster brought the deficit to two, but Eccleston and Lyle Thompson answered to boost the lead to four. Hannah notched his second to close out the half, giving us a score of 9-6 Swarm going into the break.
The track meet continued right out of the gates in the second half. Las Vegas continued chipping away at the deficit with two-straight to begin the third, one from Hannah on the power play and the other from Killen. The Swarm just kept swarming. In the blink of an eye, the Georgia lead was restored and then some, as they answered back with another three-goal run. The scorers in that run were Jackson, Miles Thompson, and Eccleston. Casey Jackson and Thompson traded goals, and then Las Vegas rattled off two-in-a-row to close out the third to get back within two. Those goals were both on the power play and were by Jackson and Webster. 13-11 Swarm after three.
Las Vegas just couldn’t break through and get the game tied up or take a lead. Miles buried his hat trick on the power play to begin the fourth, but Las Vegas continued to try and creep back. Two more goals cut the lead to only one, courtesy of Webster and Jonathan Donville. Andrew Kew scored twice in the final five minutes, and Donville registered his second, but that’d be all she wrote. Your final from Vegas, 16-14 Swarm.
Players of the game for Georgia were Eccleston (4+4), Miles Thompson (3+3), and Jackson (2+3). Dobson did what he could considering the track meet that was the entirety of the game. He made 29 saves on 43 shots. For Las Vegas, Hannah (3+5), Webster (3+2), and Killen (2+4) led the way. The same can be said for Justin Geddie in net, as he gave it his all, stopping 33 of 49.
Georgia (5-3) looks to continue putting together wins to remain in the top eight. Their next contest is back home against Colorado (5-4). That game is this Friday at 7:30pm. Las Vegas (2-6) looks to put some wins together and climb the standings. They have a week off to regroup before playing host to Vancouver (4-4)* Friday February 14th at 10:30pm.
