Georgia Swarm Clinch Playoff Birth and Division Championship

The Georgia Swarm (11-7) clinched a third-consecutive playoff birth with wins over Vancouver and New England in the last weekend of the regular season. Heading into the final weekend, ever in the Eastern division were separated by no more than two games, so it was imperative for the Swarm to close the season out strong.

The Swarm were down 7-2 early on but managed to come back and pull out an 11-10 victory over Vancouver in the first game of the weekend.

The final game of the season against New England was crucial for both teams as it decided who won the division and received home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

With a 16-11 road win for the Swarm, they won the season series against New England, won the division, and get to enjoy home-field advantage in the playoffs.

The Swarm will take on the winner of Rochester and New England on Saturday, May 12th at the Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth.

“We’re playing well,” Swarm head coach Ed Comeau said. “This is a great time of year to be playing well. Every game’s a different game. The team’s that are playing at this time of year are just as desperate and playing as intense as we are. I like where we’re at, the way we’re playing, but we’re in to one game finals. So, we’re going to need to be at our best and play a full sixty minutes.”

The Swarm had a well-balanced offensive attack led by Lyle Thompson who amassed 86 points throughout the season. Thompson's 46 goals were 5th best in the league. Following Thompson were Shayne Jackson (85 points) and Randy Staate (69 points).

The Swarm's defense this season was anchored by goalie Mike Poulin. His 692 saves were the second most in the entire league.

Let's hope the resigning NLL champs can continue their hot streak into the playoffs and become back-to-back champs.