Going into the single elimination opening round of the 2026 NLL Playoffs, the Georgia Swarm hadn’t won a playoff game since 2017. Depending on how you look at it, that may be some good juju because the Swarm won the NLL Championship that year. Update the “most recent playoff victory” statistic to 2026. The Swarm smoked the defending champion Buffalo Bandits, 17-10 Saturday night, advancing to the next round. Make no mistake, this game was not close at any point, and Georgia put together a darn near perfect 60 minutes. Gas South Arena was ready to pop. Let’s get to it.
The Swarm wasted little time getting the scoring started, as Lyle Thompson buried his first. Spoiler, you’re going to see his name a lot. Dylan Robinson tied it up for Buffalo with a beauty in transition. Georgia punched right back with two-straight to close out the first, both from Kaleb Benedict. 3-1 Swarm after one.
Nolan Byrne and Ian MacKay traded goals to open the second quarter, and then Georgia really broke it open. The Swarm rattled off four-straight and the Bandits were shaken. On the third goal of the run, Matt Vinc exited for a breather. We can count on one hand how many times we’ve ever said that about Vno in a playoff game. Those four goals were scored by Byrne twice and Shayne Jackson twice. Both of Byrne’s goals were power play markers. Clay Scanlan finally stopped the bleeding for Buffalo with his first, but Richie Connell had the answer. Buffalo built a little momentum, or so they thought, with the last two goals of the frame, which were from the “not so likely” players. The first was from Cam Wyers and the other from Mitch de Snoo. 9-5 Swarm at the break.
“We want to prove ourselves, so that’s why we’re coming out flying”, said Benedict at halftime.
The game slowed down once again, as the Swarm defense clamped down and Brett Dobson continued to prove his serious case for MVP. Thompson opened the scoring with his second but was answered by the only Buffalo goal of the quarter courtesy of Joe Resetarits. Georgia rattled off two-straight to close the third, one from Ben Trumble as he came streaking out of the penalty box and the other from Bryan Cole. 12-6 Swarm after three.
Those two Swarm goals to end the third were the first two of what would be a five-goal run. The next three were absolute daggers to any potential Buffalo comeback. Those goals were scored by Thompson twice and Connell. MacKay notched his second and third in response, but it was a little too late. Georgia got those two goals right back, one from Jackson and the other from Connell. Buffalo made the scoreboard look a little better at the end with two more courtesy of Kyle Buchanan and Josh Byrne. The buzzer sounded and the Swarm were set to advance.
Players of the game for Buffalo were MacKay (3+2), Byrne (1+5), and Resetarits (1+2). Vinc had a very uncharacteristic game, stopping 34 of 51 in 55:52. Evan Constantopoulos stopped both shots he saw the rest of the way. For Georgia, Thompson (4+6), Byrne (3+3), and Jackson (3+2) led the way. Dobson was downright silly all game, stopping 36 of 46 in total.
“We’ve made it to the playoffs just squeaking in the last few years”, said Thompson. “This year making it past the first round, it says a lot. It’s buying in to everything the team has been preaching all year. Tonight feels like the first time we’ve put a full game together, so that feels really good.”
We’ll see what the future holds for Buffalo. Next season may look a lot different if some veterans decide to call it a career. No matter the result of this game, what a ride it’s been for the Bandits.
Georgia now sets their sights on Halifax. Game one of the semifinals is Saturday May 2nd at 7:30pm in Georgia.
Game two is Saturday May 9th at 6pm in Halifax.
Game three, if necessary, is TBD at this current moment. It looks like a neutral site may be in play due to arena unavailability. Stay tuned for that.
