The Georgia Swarm scored early and often en route to a 13-9 win over the visiting Saskatchewan Rush on Saturday night. The win, in front of a season-best crowd of 9,332 fans, was Georgia’s fifth in a row, moving them up to a fourth-place tie with the Halifax Thunderbirds in the East Conference at 7-8. The loss for Saskatchewan drops their record to 6-9, keeping them in fifth place in the West Conference and another full game out of a playoff spot.
The Swarm opened the scoring just 38 seconds into the game when Lyle Thompson whistled a shot wide of the net, which bounced right to Andrew Kew in front of the net, giving him a good look and his lone goal on the night. Georgia added two more before Austin Madronic finally got the Rush on the board almost 10 minutes into the quarter. The Swarm responded quickly, however, added three more goals before the period was over, giving them a 6-1 lead.
Saskatchewan was not going to roll over and die, however. Robert Church scored a natural hat trick in the first five minutes of the second quarter, putting the Rush back within striking distance. Georgia finally got back on the scoreboard to stop the run a minute after that, then added another to give them back a four-goal cushion, but Rhys Duch potted one more for the Rush with 2:31 left on the clock to keep them close.
Coming out of the locker room after halftime, the teams exchanged early goals, then were quiet for several minutes. With only two and a half minutes left in the third quarter, Thompson scored his fourth goal of the night—his third straight goal in the game—and Zach Miller scored a minute later to build up the Swarm lead once again.
In the final quarter, once again, the Rush showed signs of life by scoring two quick goals to get to within three goals, but Georgia’s Brendan Bomberry quickly stopped the mini-run with his third goal of the night. The teams exchanged goals in the final minutes of the game, with Saskatchewan not able to chip further into their deficit.
Thompson led the way for the Swarm with four goals and four assists while Church paced the Rush, also with four goals and four assists. Swarm goalie Brett Dobson made 44 saves for the win while Rush netminder Alex Buque turned aside 38 shots.
Both teams are right back at it next Saturday, fighting for spots in the postseason. The Swarm travel to Albany to face the Firewolves who currently have the worst record in the NLL at 3-12. Meanwhile the Rush will host the Halifax Thunderbirds in what is a must-win game for both squads.
