DULITH, GA (December 3, 2022) –The Georgia Swarm suffered its first-ever loss to the Rochester Knighthawks tonight, 16-11 in Gas South Arena. The Swarm held a three-goal lead heading into the second half, but the Swarm offense was only able to capitalize on two shots in the final two frames.
The Swarm won 15-of-31 (48.4 percent) faceoffs with Jeremy Thompson winning 14. After clamping his fifth faceoff on the night, Thompson became the fourth player all-time in NLL history to achieve 2,000 faceoff wins. Captain Jordan MacIntosh won one faceoff, passing Stephen Hoar for sixth place in league history with 1,651. MacIntosh achieved another feat on the night, reaching 400 career points after dishing out two assists.
The night started off honoring four Swarm retirees and their incredible efforts towards the Swarm throughout their careers: Mitch Belisle, Jordan Hall, Joel White, and Mike Poulin. The ceremony included tributes to the historic 2017 NLL Champion Cup win and a ceremonial banner raising.
Rochester jumped out to a two-goal lead until Jeremy Thompson netted the first goal of the 2022-23 season. Austin Hasen then gave his squad a 3-1 advantage before Brendan Bomberry found the back of the net after connecting on a behind the back Lyle Thompson feed.
Rochester held a 4-2 advantage heading into the second quarter, but the Swarm quickly changed that narrative. Shayne Jackson connected off a pass from rookie Will Cecile to bring Georgia within one. Connor Fields tried to throw off the Swarm’s flow after scoring his first goal in Rochester threads, but it was no match.
Georgia went on two runs, clinching four-straight and then netting two goals separated by a Hasen strike. It started with Jackson netting his second of the outing followed by a defensive connection from TJ Comizio to Adam Wiedemann. Teionshontathe McComber kicked off the second spree, recording his first-career NLL goal. Another first followed McComber as Andrew Kew scored his first in a Swarm uniform.
The defense came out resilient in the first half, forcing five turnovers and blocking three shots. It was textbook defense on both ends of the field as neither team caused a penalty in the opening 30 minutes. Craig Wende had a strong effort in net stopping 21 Knighthawks shots, producing a .778 save percentage going into the second half.
It was a slow start to the second half for both teams as it took nearly six minutes for the first shot to fall. A five-hole placed shot by Cutis Knight ended the draught. Three teammates followed to take a 10-9 lead in Rochester’s favor.
The Swarm went scoreless for nearly 24 minutes allowing the Knighthawks to take a 13-9 lead. Jeremy Thompson and Jackson scored back-to-back goals in the fourth quarter, closing out the scoring for the Swarm.
Georgia takes a week off before returning to Gas South Arena. The Swarm invite Eastern Division rival Philadelphia Wings to town on December 17 at 7:00 PM ET. Last season, Philly and Georgia went head-to-head three times with the Wings taking the win all three times in overtime.
