In the final week of the regular season, the matchup between the Buffalo Bandits and the Georgia Swarm had massive implications for the hometown Swarm, and absolutely none for the Bandits. The answer for Georgia was simple; win, and you’re in. Lose, and you go home. Buffalo had already locked up the one-seed for the playoffs, so they were looking to sharpen their game heading into the postseason.
There were many different points in the game where it looked bleak for Georgia, as they fell behind by multiple goals, the most being four late in the third quarter. Presumably, Ed Comeau and company sent the biggest message of all, that their playoff lives were on the line. Georgia mounted the comeback, blanked Buffalo in the fourth quarter, and punched their ticket to the playoffs, winning this one 14-11. To Gas South we go.
Lyle Thompson got the party started for the Swarm, but Chase Fraser had the answer for Buffalo just 30 seconds later. 40 seconds after that, Andrew Kew regained the lead, so it was evident that this would be back-and-forth. Buffalo closed the quarter with two-straight, one from Ian MacKay and the other from Josh Byrne. 3-2 Bandits after one.
The second quarter saw a pair of runs, one from each side, which continued the teeter-totter start. Steve Priolo started it off for Buffalo but was quickly answered by Brendan Bomberry’s first. Cue another two-goal run for Buffalo, as MacKay and Fraser went back-to-back. In response, cue the Georgia run, only theirs was three-in-a-row. No pun intended, but the first two goals of that run were by Kew (ha ha), and the third was by Shayne Jackson. Dhane Smith buried his first of the game with just about a minute left, and Buffalo led 7-6 going into the break.
“I think we’re doing a good job of moving the ball”, said Byrne at halftime. “Really trying to buzz off ball, it’s probably not our best half. We definitely need to clean up a lot.” Regarding what the game was going to come down to, Byrne said, “grit, hard work and whoever doesn’t make the most mistakes.”
The goaltender battle was one to watch as well, as on one side you had a league journeyman in Matt Vinc. On the other, was a youngster who has already made a splash in his adolescent years in the league, that being Brett Dobson. Vinc stopped 27 of 33, while Dobson stopped 19 of 26.
Buffalo tacked onto their lead to begin the third quarter, as Clay Scanlan went back-to-back on his own and Smith buried his second. Georgia answered right back with two, one from Richie Connell and the other from Adam Wiedemann. Fraser notched his hat trick on the power play, but that’d be it for the Buffalo scoring for what would be the rest of the third quarter and actually, the rest of the game. The grand total for the Buffalo scoreless streak would end up being 20:54. Talk about shut down from the Swarm. Georgia closed out the third quarter with three-straight, which tied the time up. Those goals were scored by Jackson, Kew on the power play, and Lyle. 11-11 after three.
Sorry for the spoiler above, but here we are in the fourth quarter. Georgia completely shut down the Buffalo transition and any quality offensive chances were brushed away by Dobson. Georgia held Buffalo scoreless when their season mattered most and tacked on three more goals for good measure. Those three were scored by Jacob Hickey, Jordan MacIntosh, and Bomberry. When all that dust settled, it gave us our final from the capital of the South, 14-11 Swarm. “The Fratellis” by Chelsea Dagger is the goal song used for the Swarm, and one would bet that was playing all night in celebration of the Swarm punching their ticket to this year’s postseason.
Players of the game for Buffalo were Fraser (three goals), Smith (2+3), and MacKay (2+2). Vinc was stout in the first half, but faltered late. He stopped 49 of 63. A couple of milestones to mention for Buffalo, as Dhane, for the fourth straight season, broke his own single season assist record. Another was Paul Dawson setting a new record for blocked shots in a single season.
For Georgia, Kew (4+4), Lyle (2+2), and Bomberry (2+3) led the way. Dobson was ridiculously good down the stretch, stopping 34 of 45 in total.
“For us, I think we were playing desperate”, said Dobson. “We needed to get into the playoffs, I think we made the most of our opportunities, our best players stepped up tonight. It was a great win for the boys. I think our D was (expletive) playing lights out, so it was an unbelievable game from the defense in front of me and I wouldn’t be able to do it without them.” (Don’t worry, he apologized on-air for using a bad word)
The playoffs are upon us and both teams are geared up and ready to make a run at the NLL Cup. Buffalo is the two-time reigning champions, the first overall seed, and are looking to three-peat. They host the first round of the playoffs and welcome in the San Diego Seals this Friday at 7:30pm. Georgia hits the road to take on the second overall seed, the Saskatchewan Rush. That game is this Saturday at 9:30pm. Here. We. Go.
