Rush Win Defensive Masterclass Against Swarm, 8-7
The middle.
Photo Credit: Victoria Adkins/Georgia Swarm
The first National Lacrosse League team to 10 wins in the 2024-25 season became the Saskatchewan Rush (10-3) after a defensive masterclass matchup with the Georgia Swarm (7-5). Key saves from Frank Scigliano and timely contributions from rookies propelled the Rush to an 8-7 win against the Swarm on Saturday at Gas South Arena.
Transition broke open the ice in the game, with a long feed from Jeff Henrick finding Jeremy Thompson all alone in the Swarm offensive zone, scoring against his former club. Matt Hossack responded nearly seven minutes later with a rip two steps within the restraining line. From there, transition played less of a role in the frame, as the Swarm rattled off a trio of even strength goals — Richie Connell’s first pro NLL goal, Bryan Cole scoring on the doorstep, and a dunk from behind the cage from captain Jordan MacIntosh. The first quarter ended with the Swarm up 4-1.
Adjustments made during the intermission between quarters started to bear fruit for the Rush. Clark Walter’s shot got Brett Dobson dropping, but the ball went high into the farside corner instead. Face-dodging his defender, Zach Manns netted a short jumping five-hole goal to get the Rush within one. Shayne Jackson cut the short run for the Rush with a short run from the favorable bench at home to net a transition marker. But Saskatchewan’s transition would have the final say, as rookie Brock Haley stepped back in transition to rifle the last goal of the frame home, the Rush down 5-4.
“They’re a pretty dynamic offense,” Swarm head coach Ed Comeau said. “They don’t rely on one guy, the ball swings, and they cut the middle. I thought the first half, that’s the best half defensively we’ve played lacrosse all year, just physical, knocking guys over, good doubles, we pushed the ball, we had great chances in transition.”
After a 3-1 frame, momentum was on the visiting club’s side, which the Rush continued in the new half. Haley opened the frame with a low whip from the perimeter around a slow-approaching defender, and Ryan Keenan cashed in off a ricochet shot to give Saskatchewan their first lead of the night. It lasted for most of the third quarter before Cole collected a pass that didn’t connect from Lyle Thompson to Seth Oakes, cashing in with a quick stick to tie things up, 6-6.
Dobson and Scigliano swapped nets one final time, and Jackson retook the lead for the home team with another short bench special. The lead almost lasted a full minute, but Keenan’s second of the game survived conflicting referee calls to tie things up at 7 apiece. Defenses buckled down before rookie Josh Zawada delivered the dagger off a tic-tac-toe passing play.
Elevated from the Practice Roster but still maintaining the Practice Player tag, it was Zawada’s fourth goal in four games and his first game-winner, a testament to his efforts and grind in trying to make it on one of the deepest NLL rosters.
Photo Credit: Victoria Adkins/Georgia Swarm
“To see him get in and get his opportunity and make the most of it, I’m just so happy. That’s why we’re a good team, right?” defender Jake Boudreau said. “He’s not complaining, his head’s never down, and when his time comes, he puts the ball in the back of the net a couple of times.”
His heroics were slightly overshadowed by the incredible defensive stand from Scigliano and the penalty kill unit in the waning minutes of regulation. Hossack received a minor penalty for an illegal cross check, meaning the Rush were without their best defender for almost the remaining time in the game. Scigliano was exceptional despite the man-advantage and extra pressure from the Swarm, stuffing three ever-increasingly dangerous chances from the Swarm to kill the penalty and getting final possession with 19.6 seconds left in the game. The Rush kept the ball away from the Swarm to win a defensive masterclass, 8-7, and become the first NLL team to 10 wins this season.
“I thought both goalies were great, both defenses were really good,” Comeau said. “I thought we had some really good chances that we didn’t bury, and that was kind of the difference at the end of it all. But defensively, real happy with the effort that our guys gave. We battled hard. We held a team to eight goals. You hope when you hold a team to eight goals that you’re going to score more than them and get a win.”
Four different Saskatchewan players led the team in scoring with 3 PTS — Walter with 1G, 2A; Keenan and Haley both with 2G, 1A; and Boudreau with 3A. Scigliano stopped 45 of the 52 shots on target he saw, good for an .865 Sv%.
The Swarm were led by Lyle (4A) and Cole (2G, 2A) with 4 PTS apiece. Dobson was also exceptional in net, as he made 34 saves for an .810 Sv%.
Photo Credit: Victoria Adkins/Georgia Swarm
The Middle
If you listened to the postgame show for the Saskatchewan Rush with Cody Janzen, you would have heard me on it gushing about how both the Rush and Swarm defenses were phenomenal at taking away the middle area right in front of the crease. Forwards had to settle for long shots, dunk attempts, and iso plays down the alley to try and manufacture what they could with cuts through the middle a no-go.
In the Swarm’s four-goal first quarter, their transition game was busy early, evidenced by Jeremy Thompson’s tranny marker to kick the scoring off, but Scigliano was perfect at stopping transition for the rest of the frame. The Swarm’s even strength got into a groove and took advantage of further out with Connell’s goal, cutting through the middle with Cole’s, and MacIntosh’s graceful dunk from behind the cage. Cole’s first goal of the game would be the last time the Swarm found any success inside on the night.
“Early, we were kind of allowing Georgia to dictate the pace of play, come at us and get what they wanted,” Rush co-head coach Jimmy Quinlan said. “As the game wore on, we kind of started to get our legs underneath us, and we started dictating and kind of pushing the ball to where we wanted it, too. Our low defender, our anchor, was very good not allowing anything underneath, and we got our slides in position. We’ve got a really good group back there. We like to get after it; it just took us a while to get going.”
A defensive system shift in the intermission between the first and second quarters got the Rush defense exerting their will for the remaining 45 minutes. The Swarm averaged a goal a quarter the rest of the way, twice in transition and only once 5-on-5. While Hossack continued to strengthen his case as frontrunner for NLL Defensive Player of the Year, Holden Garlent and Boudreau were equally impressive, leading the defense and keeping every right-handed Swarm forward from finding the back of the net.
“(T)he rights had tons of shots,” Comeau said. “Lyle had shots; Miles had shots; Seth had shots. We just didn’t drain them. If Lyle gets his average, which is probably two-and-a-half goals, it’s a different night. I don’t think it was like they didn’t get any opportunities. I think they had opportunities, we just didn’t execute on them.”
Boudreau was quick to move praise from himself to the rest of his team when asked about his efforts to shut down a dangerous Swarm right side.
“Every single guy on our team right now, especially in our back end, I have full trust in,” he said postgame, “and that’s something that we haven’t had in the past couple of years. We know our system inside and out. Talking helps, but you can get away with stuff when you’re not talking, like if you’re falling asleep, and that’s what makes it so easy to play is that you kind of have a cerebral feel of what’s going to happen.”
Photo Credit: Victoria Adkins/Georgia Swarm
The Swarm were the better on target team on the night, but the Rush defense made Scigliano’s job much easier by boxing them out and keeping the shots perimeter or forcing less dangerous shots that hit the logo on Scigliano’s chest. His 45 saves in the game are the second highest single-game total he’s made this season, as the 33-year-old makes his case week in and out for Goaltender of the Year.
Defensive gems are some of the best games to be a part of in the NLL. Iron sharpening iron, it takes players clawing at any advantage they can create, manufacturing anything to give their team just one more goal. After coming off their highest single-game total this season of 15 against Ottawa the week before, a seven-spot might seem like a step back for the Swarm, but they played arguably the best defense in the NLL, they fought for every possession and shot attempt, and it’s just a game — no point in throwing the baby out with the bathwater after a game when your team still sits in a three-way tie for third in the NLL.
“I’d be concerned if we got outshot huge and we didn’t have any chances,” Comeau said. “We had chances, and we didn’t score. It didn’t drop for us tonight. We’re going to attack next game with the same type of effort and hopefully better execution.”
A slow start meant the Rush battled back for most of the game in a hostile territory they’ve not had much success in historically, but their grind paid off as the game went along. That ever important middle was what won them the game offensively.
Walter’s shot wide early in the third quarter rebounded hard off the boards back above goal line extended and to a fortuitously placed Keenan, who quick sticked the ricochet past Dobson while in the high-danger area of the floor. It gave the Rush their first lead of the game, 6-5. Tic-tac-toe passing from Keenan to Haley to Zawada won them the game, as the rare lapse in the Swarm’s defensive system meant Zawada was left forgotten in the middle of the floor. Haley threaded the pass to his fellow rookie, and some fancy footwork from Zawada ensured his goal survived the coach’s challenge and ultimately became the game-winner.
“Our goal always as an offense is to generate a shot from the high-scoring area, which is the middle of the floor,” Quinlan said. “Georgia made it really hard to get there tonight. That’s what we try to do is take the middle away. I think of the 15 goals scored, they were all earned. That was a real good lacrosse game to be part of. Again, didn’t love our start, but we hung around and kind of got the last punch. That’s kind of what you expect here coming down the stretch in terms of playoff lacrosse. We’re fortunate to be on the right side tonight.”
Photo Credit: Victoria Adkins/Georgia Swarm