Swarm and Seals Go Blow for Blow, but Swarm Prevail 13-12 in OT

Photo Credit: Georgia Swarm

In their season opener, the Georgia Swarm (1-0) won the war of attrition with the visiting San Diego Seals (1-1), with Andrew Kew daggering the game-winning overtime goal home for the 13-12 win at Gas South Arena.

The score was tied at seven different points in the game, as physicality between the lines and quality goaltending from Chris Origlieri (12.40 GAA, .740 Sv%) and Brett Dobson (11.44 GAA, .774 Sv%) in the second half balanced out a high-scoring first half.

“We improved in some areas that we needed to from last week,” Seals general manager and head coach Pat Merrill said about his team’s performance. “I thought our defense specifically was a lot better tonight. But I think we still shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit, and against a great team like that, they’re going to make you pay. But I thought our start was good, and we were definitely way more consistent on D.”

Rookie Adam Noakes made a backdoor cut to receive a pass on the weak side and open the scoring for the night, putting the Seals up 1-0. It was matched less than two minutes later by Lyle Thompson’s aerial acrobatics. After another scoring exchange from both teams, Mike Manley’s transition tally gave the home team their first lead of the night, 3-2.

Seth Oakes paid a heavy price for his first goal of the game to widen the Swarm’s lead. Then the Seals leading scorer on the night Rob Hellyer netted his first with a horizontal cut to crash the crease. Rookie Trent DiCicco used a long bouncer to tie things up for the Seals. A pair of Thompson goals restored the two-goal lead. Both teams traded goals in transition, but the tide turned the Seals’ way. Jesse Gamble, playing in his first game of the season, kicked off a three-goal run to retake the lead.

Georgia tied it up with newcomer Joey Cupido’s shorthanded marker, but Hellyer’s hat trick put San Diego up 9-8 at halftime.

The Swarm started the second half on the penalty kill, which the Seals were all too happy to take advantage of. They scored on their second power play shift of the quarter, and with another penalty benefiting them shortly afterwards, scored another power play marker less than a minute later. Their three-goal lead was the widest margin of the game.

Dobson and the Swarm defense battened down the hatches for the rest of the quarter, as the Swarm offense went to work. A behind-the-back, shortside snipe from Bryan Cole, Thompson’s power play quick stick, and Kew streaking off the bench tied things up at 11.

“I think that first half was a little bit of him (Dobson) getting settled in, finding himself in the net a little better in game action,” Swarm head coach Ed Comeau said. “Full credit to him. You give up nine in the first half, and it’s a little nerve wracking, right? You’re extrapolating out, too — ‘That’s a lot of goals we’ve got to score’ — but that’s the type of effort we can get from him. He’ll be the first to say he didn’t have a great first half, but the second half is what we’ve come to expect from him.”

Both teams kicked up the defense and physicality another notch in the fourth frame. Ryan Benesch potted his second goal of the game for the Seals’ final lead of the night. It lasted for over five minutes before Oakes threaded the needle on an acute angle late in the waning seconds of the shot clock. The Swarm were unable to solve Origlieri on the final possession of the quarter, and the teams went to over time knotted up at 12 apiece.

“He was seeing the ball really well,” Zach Currier said about his 21-year-old netminder’s strong performance in the fourth, which included numerous stops on a Swarm power play. “When we give him the shots that he wants, he’s going to be dialed in. It’s on us when we give them good looks on top of the crease or anything staring down the middle of the floor is tough for him. When we give him the shots that he wants, he’s a great goalie — regardless, he’s a phenomenal goalie, but he was pretty lights out there in the second half for us, for sure.”

Free lacrosse lasted for just shy of three minutes. After a bit of back and forth, Kew rifled a dangerous outside shot through Origlieri’s five-hole. The Swarm earned their first win of the season, 13-12.

Hellyer’s six points (3G, 3A) led the Seals, followed by Berg (2G, 2A), Benesch (2G, 2A), and Ben McIntosh (1G, 3A) with four point apiece.

Thompson had the most points for the Swarm with 6 (4G, 2A). Another trio of players finished with four points — Brendan Bomberry (4A), Kew (2G, 2A), and Cole (1G, 3A).

Photo Credit: Georgia Swarm

The New

The Seals’ free agent haul was arguably the most impressive of any club this offseason, bringing in veterans Benesch, Hellyer, and McIntosh. And while those players meshed seamlessly into the Seals’ systems, San Diego has an impressive trio of rookies on hand in Noakes, DiCicco, and Matt Wright. The three seem to have adjusted to NLL speed and physicality immediately in week 1 and continued to grow in week 2.

“Work ethic is obviously there,” Currier observed about his juniors. “Hunger; they want it … They’re all very aggressive, they’re smart, they know when to go. It’s a really tough league, obviously, to get into the lineup, and they’ve done a great job in earning those spots. They’re going to do everything they can to stay in those spots and contribute to the team. It’s a bright spot for us, for sure, having those young guys pushing us.”

“I think all three of those guys have been really, really good in both games we’ve played so far,” Merrill said, “playing mature beyond their years a little bit. It’s hard to rattle them. But most importantly, like how coachable they are and eager to learn. Our veteran guys have been great with them, too. They keep their poise and keep their focus when they make mistakes, but they’re always anxious to learn from their mistakes, and I think that’s going to hopefully pay off for us even more as the season goes on.”

It doesn’t hurt DiCicco’s two-way style of play to be learning from arguably the best two-way player in the world in Currier. Merrill noted both DiCicco and Currier are playing new roles for the Seals, with Currier helping to shore up the thinner left side of the offense. Their abilities to play anywhere at any time provide a different dimension for the club he said they didn’t have before.

The Swarm also have an impressive rookie in their lineup. While Kaleb Benedict finished with just two assists, the 22-year-old looked right at home in the first NLL game of his career. His crashing and banging off-ball, timely shots late in the clock, and measured poise were noticeable early on.

“I thought he swung the ball really well,” Comeau said. “Some of the young guys who get the ball in their stick, it dies there. He got it, he swung it, and then he cut. He’s got a bright future ahead of him. It won’t be long before he finds the back of the net.”

After 12 seasons with the Colorado Mammoth, Cupido signed with the Swarm in free agency. It was odd not seeing him in burgundy and black, but that was the only thing that changed for the 34-year-old transition player. His usual gritty defense and transition spark were on full display. Comeau noted Cupido is motivated by his free agency experience and is using it as extra fuel to try and win another championship.

“He really won our team over in training camp, like how hard he played, and he wants to play. He wants to try to win. He’s had some success winning. Gritty, does a lot of great things for us. We’re excited. Certainly chipping in a goal is huge.”

His shorthanded tally was the fourth Swarm transition goal of the game. Four other Swarm players found the back of the net on the run, as they outscored the Seals 5-2 on fast break situations.

Photo Credit: Georgia Swarm

The Looks Ahead

Both teams will rematch in two weeks, but between now and then, they return to their respective barns for different opponents in week 3 of the 2024-25 NLL regular season.

The Seals return to Pechanga Arena to welcome the 2-0 Colorado Mammoth on Friday, Dec. 13. Face-off is set for 10:30 p.m. ET. Colorado is coming off a strong 15-9 win against the Desert Dogs and are behemoths 5-on-5.

“We have so many new players that we’re trying to continue to build chemistry and figure things out together,” Merrill concluded. “But at the same time, these early games are really important, right, in the standings. Everything’s going to be so tight this year. So yeah, I think it’s going to be a little bit of, you know what, we don’t want to blow things up in terms of beating ourselves up after this game, but there are some tweaks and adjustments we need to make, because Colorado’s a really, really good team that we’re familiar with that’s 2-0 right now, coming in feeling pretty good about themselves. So, we’ve got to obviously quickly turn our attention to them.”

The Swarm stay in Gas South Arena, as the Toronto Rock (0-2) search for their first win of the season. Their numerous injuries to key players have taken their toll, as the reigning NLL Goaltender of the Year Nick Rose has been chased from the pipes in both games and the offense is averaging 4.5 GF/GAME.

“We don’t have any control over their lineup, just like they don’t have any control over ours,” Comeau remarked. “Over the course of the season, teams get knicked up. Sometimes, it’s early; sometimes, it’s in the middle; sometimes, it’s late. We’ve experienced all of those. We focus on what we need to do. That’s a proud group over there, coming in 0-2. We know they’re going to work hard this week to watch film on us and get ready. But for us, obviously, we’re going to look at Toronto, but until game time, we’re not sure who they’re going to be playing. It’s really about talking about them but focusing on what we did well this week, what we can do better, and really focus on the Swarm.”