The Georgia Swarm today announced its final 21-man Active Roster for the 2018-19 season. Georgia will begin the season with its Home Opener against the New England Black Wolves on Saturday, Dec. 15. Faceoff at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Field at Infinite Energy Arena is set for 7:05 p.m. ET.
After a two-week Training Camp which included a 14-9 preseason victory against Rochester on Sunday, the Swarm is now ready to compete for its second NLL World Championship in franchise history.
“Although we had a shorter Training Camp than normal, the coaches did a great job of covering all of the preparation for the 2018-19 season,” Swarm Owner and General Manager John Arlotta said. “It’s exciting to see the new high-quality players integrate quickly into the team. We feel really good about our final decision and believe the current roster construction will have us competing for another championship.”
The Swarm returns the same captains that led the team to its first-ever NLL Cup in 2017. Jordan MacIntosh remains the team captain, and Shayne Jackson and Jason Noblelead the offense and defense respectively as assistant captains. All three signed multi-year contracts with the Swarm at the beginning of December.
Georgia re-tooled its offense following the departure of a few players in the 2018 Expansion Draft. It returns 2017 NLL MVP Lyle Thompson to the squad, and he is joined by his brothers Miles and Jerome. Jerome is sliding back into the offense along with Zed Williams in his sophomore season. Randy Staats will be looking for a fourth-straight season of 30 goals or more.
The Swarm traded Jesse King and a second-round pick in the 2018 NLL Entry Draft to the Calgary Roughnecks for Holden Cattoni and a first-round pick in the same draft. Cattoni, 24, finished his sophomore season with the Roughnecks with 76 points (30G, 46A), increasing his offensive production by 50 points from his rookie campaign.
That first-round selection acquired alongside Cattoni became Brendan Bomberry out of Syracuse University (No. 7 overall). He and fellow 2018 first-round pick Adam Wiedemann (Belmont Abbey College, No. 8 overall) join the Swarm’s defense along with fellow rookie Joel Tinney (Johns Hopkins University, No. 18 overall) and free agentMatt Dunn. Returning veterans Alex Crepinsek, John Ranagan, Connor Sellars, Leo Stouros, and Chad Tutton.
The Swarm’s transition squad will consist of MacIntosh, Bryan Cole and Jason Noble.
Between the pipes will be Mike Poulin, playing his 13th season, and Kevin Orleman in his second season with the Swarm.
Georgia’s Practice Squad will have four new names to it. Free agent defenseman Tyler Ferreira, rookie forward LeRoy Halftown (NYIT, No. 20 overall), rookie goalie Steven Orleman (Brampton Jr. A, No. 19 overall), and free agent rookie goalie Craig Wende were all signed to the Practice Squad on Monday.
Ed Comeau enters his fourth season as the Swarm’s head coach. He is joined by assistant coaches Sean Ferris (fourth season) coaching the defense and Dan Ladouceur(third season) coaching the offense.
2018-19 Georgia Swarm Roster (*Denotes first-year players)
Forwards (7): Holden Cattoni, Shayne Jackson ‘A’, Randy Staats, Jerome Thompson, Lyle Thompson, Miles Thompson, Zed Williams
Transition (3): Bryan Cole, Jordan MacIntosh ‘C’, Jason Noble ‘A’
Defensemen (9): Brendan Bomberry*, Alex Crepinsek, Matt Dunn*, John Ranagan, Connor Sellars, Leo Stouros, Joel Tinney*, Chad Tutton, Adam Wiedemann*
Goaltenders (2): Kevin Orleman, Mike Poulin
Practice Squad (4): Tyler Ferreira (D), LeRoy Halftown* (F), Steven Orleman* (G – Protected), Craig Wende* (G)
The Swarm will be celebrating Star Wars Night presented by Peachtree Orthopedics on Dec. 15, and players will wear special Star Wars themed jerseys and shorts. Following the game, fans will have the opportunity to bid on game-used, autographed Star Wars uniforms. Select proceeds from the uniform auction will benefit the Rally Foundation.
Early-arriving fans will receive light-up Bamstix and have the opportunity to mingle with several dozen Star Wars characters in the 501st Legion, Georgia Garrison throughout the game. Tickets start at just $25, and fans can purchase tickets by visiting GeorgiaSwarm.com/StarWars or calling 844-4-GASWARM.
