(Duluth, GA) – The extra rest from the Georgia Swarm’s (7-2) bye week did not help the team as it lost on Saturday against the Calgary Roughnecks. Now Georgia continues its road trip with a visit to Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday, March 12, looking to best the New England Black Wolves (4-6). Faceoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
This will be Georgia’s first visit to Mohegan Sun Arena since its tough overtime postseason loss to the Black Wolves in 2016.
The third of four contests between these two teams in the 2017 regular season, the Swarm hope to repeat the earlier successes it has had against the Black Wolves. Georgia defeated New England on Harrah’s Cherokee Field at Infinite Energy Arena 14-9 on Jan. 20 and 17-15 on Feb. 11. The last two matchups between the two will now be at New England’s home, with the final game taking place on Friday, April 7.
New England will be riding high after its overtime victory over the Toronto Rock on Friday, March 3. Playing without its team-leader in points Shawn Evans (out with an ankle injury), the Black Wolves went toe-to-toe with the Rock in a very physical game that took an extra two-and-a-half minutes of game time to decide.
“We always make adjustments,” head coach Ed Comeau said. “Although it’s the third time, it’s been a few weeks. They’ve made some personnel changes. We always go back and take a look at what they’ve done recently because that’s more important than what they did four or five weeks ago. They had a big win last weekend against Toronto, gives them a little bit of momentum, and they’re certainly going to be looking forward to keeping that momentum going against us this weekend.”
Lyle Thompson and Jordan Hall have feasted on the Black Wolves this season. Lyle (27G, 37A) scored four goals in both games, and Hall has struck his former team for 13 points (7G, 6A). Captain Jordan MacIntosh had his best game of the season so far on Feb. 11, scoring a career-high matching nine points (3G, 6A) while going 16-for-27 on faceoffs.
Chad Tutton has stepped up defensively for Georgia, collecting four loose balls and causing two turnovers against Calgary. Throughout the season, he has 39 LB and a team-leading 16 CTO. Sean Young also had a good game Friday night with 5 LB and 2 CTO.
Goalie Mike Poulin will look to bounce back from a drubbing by his former team and the last time New England came to town. The last time both teams met, New England chased him from the pipes in the first quarter, but Brodie MacDonald took over, stopping 36 shots in almost 49 min. of play to give Georgia a chance to come back and claim victory.
While nobody can tell you definitively who the victor will be between the two teams without a crystal ball, fans can definitely expect a fierce clash as the two East Division rivals aim for the postseason, one looking for only its second back-to-back win on the season and another looking to show that its 7-2 record is the real deal.
“We’re going to see a fast-paced game there,” Comeau said. “We should be really running now. I think defensively, it’s going to be tight, and there’s going to be lots of contact.”
Broadcast Info: Fans can catch the game LIVE via NLLTV.com.
Georgia returns to Harrah’s Cherokee Field at Infinite Energy Arena for a rematch against Calgary on Friday, March 17 for a St. Patrick’s Day showdown. Faceoff is set for 7:35 p.m. ET. Tickets are available by calling 844-4-GASWARM or by visiting GeorgiaSwarm.com/StPatricks.
