It took longer than expected, but the Georgia Swarm have their first win of the new season.
After losses at New England and Colorado, captain Jordan McIntosh and his teammates unfurled their championship banner and played with more spark up front and with dogged determination on the back end in overcoming an early four-goal deficit to defeat the Rochester Knighthawks 14-11 Saturday.
“We really played our style, an aggressive-style defense,’’ head coach Ed Comeau said. “When you have a lead or when you’re down, you can’t alter how you play. You’ve got to play aggressive, and I thought once we did that we were able to stop some goals and play some really good D.”
Jesse King scored four goals for the Swarm and Lyle Thompson got three in a diversified attack that saw most of the forwards chip in with a goal.
“When you have so many guys like that, it just makes it a lot more fun and when you’re out there having fun everyone’s playing a lot better, a lot faster,” King said.
Give Rochester credit. Weather-forced travel delays that included a canceled Friday flight prompted the stranded Knighthawks to charter two planes to get to Georgia. The game started two hours late, but the Knighthawks jumped to a 4-0 lead and battled to the end despite travel fatigue.
“We battled the best we could under the circumstances,” head coach Mike Hasen said. “You talk about character wins, I think this is a character loss for us.”
COLORFUL CORY
Rochester’s Cory Vitarelli scored from behind the Georgia net not once, but twice during his team’s 14-11 loss. Teammates call him The Dog or Dogger. Call him what you want but the 32-year-old Knighthawks forward from Peterborough, Ontario, is one of the most colorful and sensational players in the NLL.
What a goal from @rocknighthawks’ Vitarelli #NLL #ROCvsGA #sctop10 @espnassigndesk @sportscenter pic.twitter.com/kvqVHmAYqN
— NLL (@NLL) December 31, 2017
RIVETING RALLY
Key back-end contributions stoked the tremendous New England rally that turned a 9-6 fourth-quarter deficit into a 13-9 victory over visiting Vancouver on Friday. Count ‘em: seven consecutive goals.
Joel Coyle tied it by firing in a high overhand bullet and Adam Bomberry supplied the winning goal by picking a top corner on a breakaway. These were the kind of swift transition breakouts coach Glenn Clark had pinpointed as his team’s No. 1 priority coming into the season, and he’s getting them.
“We are seeing that mentality of getting the ball up the floor,” head coach Glenn Clark said. “It’s playing out how we’d hoped it would. We’re seeing good things from a lot of the guys coming out of the back end.”
Goaltender Aaron Bold, who didn’t go the distance in a lopsided loss to Saskatchewan, provided quality goaltending when it counted most.
“It was almost a similar script to the game we won against Georgia,” Clark said. “I’m sure he would have liked a couple of those early goals back, but he was great with the shutout in the fourth quarter. When we went up by one, they had a guy all alone at our crease and Aaron made a great save to keep us ahead. Down the stretch, he made two or three game-changing saves.”
The Wolves, 2-1, don’t play again until Jan. 13, when they go to Rochester.
“When we looked at the schedule, we looked at the first three games prior to this bye week and said if we could come out of it 2-1 we’d be pretty happy, especially with playing Georgia and Saskatchewan in the first two games,” Clark said. “So we’re happy with 2-1.”
COLTON CONNECTS
Colton Watkinson, New England’s first pick and seventh overall in the 2017 entry draft, scored his first NLL goal late in the Black Wolves’ win. With Stealth goalie Tye Belanger scrambling to get back to his crease after being pulled for an extra runner, the 6-foot-4 rookie shot the ball into the net before Belanger could get there.
Watkinson, 24, from Burlington, Ontario, played NCAA field lacrosse at Limestone College in South Carolina. He played indoor lacrosse with the Brooklin Redmen in Ontario’s major league last summer. His goal was the result of his speed in transition out of his own zone. Captain Shawn Evans retrieved the ball for Watkinson, who is wearing 17.
HE’S ONLY 19
Ryan Martel, Calgary’s third pick and 11th overall, scored his first goal in his first NLL game to open the scoring in the Roughnecks’ 11-7 loss to visiting Colorado. The 5-foot-10 native of Aldergrove, British Columbia, ran out of a corner with the ball and took a shot from the left of goalie Dillon Ward that sent the ball into the short side of the net.
Martel is only 19. He was rookie of the year with the Langley Thunder in B.C.’s Junior A league with 43 goals in 21 games last summer. He is wearing 88 with the ‘Necks.
ROCK GET FIRST WIN
Toronto broke into the win column after losing its first two games with a 20-13 win over visiting Buffalo. As was the case with New England, getting the fast-break game going was a key to the Rock revival.
“We challenged [the transition players] to get back to doing that,” head coach Matt Sawyer said. “We put more of an emphasis on it. That’s just the way this game is — you have to have transition. We were outstanding in that area.”
Lefty Adam Jones led the Rock up front with four goals and five assists. On the other side of the floor, Tom Schreiber and Rob Hellyer had their best games of the opening month with three goals apiece.
56 WENT BEFORE HIM
Dan Craig, a sixth-round draft pick from Shelburne, Ontario, via the Ontario Junior A Orangeville Northmen and Penn State, scored two goals in his first NLL game with the Rock. On his first goal, Craig had his back to the net to the left of and a good distance from Buffalo goalie Alex Buque when he flung the ball sidearm. It went in, giving the Rock a 4-3 lead in a game they went on to win 20-13. He added a second goal, Toronto’s 17th, late in the game.
Drew Belgrave also scored his first NLL goal. He connected with an overhand shot from the middle of the attacking zone. Toronto selected the forward from New Westminster, British Columbia, 15th overall in September.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZACH
Zach Higgins replaced Buque in the second quarter with Toronto up 7-3 and stayed in the Buffalo crease the rest of the way. The Bandits signed Higgins last week to take the roster spot of Davide DeRuscio, who went in IR with a strained hamstring.
Higgins, who broke into the NLL in 2013 with the Swarm when they were in Minnesota, saw all of 44 minutes of on-floor action in the NLL last season with Calgary. He was released from Vancouver’s camp before Christmas.
Pulling on a Bandits sweater was the best possible way for the native of Courtice, Ontario, to mark his 28th birthday Saturday.
RARE MISS
Toronto defenseman Sandy Chapman missed only his second game in the last nine years when he sat out the Rock home game Saturday. Chapman, 36, in his 13th NLL season, suffered what the team described as a lower body injury in practice Dec. 27. He was replaced by Challen Rogers, who missed the first two games before being cleared to play after completing rehab from shoulder surgery.
GETTING PAID
Minimum salaries this season as outlined in the NLL-PLPA collective bargaining agreement:
Rookie: $10,208
2nd-year: $12,196-$16,631
Veteran: $15,165-$30,132
Franchise player: $37,664 (There are only three: Shawn Evans and Aaron Bold of the Black Wolves and Rhys Duch of the Stealth).
TIME TRAVEL
Jan. 6, 1989: The league opened its third season with six teams — Baltimore Thunder, Detroit Turbos, New England Blazers, New York Saints, Philadelphia Wings and Washington Wave — playing eight-game schedules.
Jan. 4, 1992: The expansion Buffalo Bandits lose 21-17 to the New York Saints in their debut in front of a Memorial Auditorium crowd of 9,052.
Jan. 7, 1995: The expansion Rochester Knighthawks won their inaugural game 12-8 against the New York Saints in the War Memorial.
NLL WEEK 5 PREVIEW
SASKATCHEWAN (2-0) at GEORGIA (1-2), Saturday, 7:05 p.m. ET
The Rush had a bye last weekend to reflect on a great start that included a 17-9 win in Toronto and a 24-11 rout of New England in their home opener.
The Swarm beat Rochester 14-11 in their home opener Saturday. The reigning champions had opened with a 13-11 loss at New England and a 14-11 loss at Colorado.
This will be the first meeting since Georgia beat Saskatchewan 18-14 at home and then 15-14 in overtime in Saskatoon to win the Champion’s Cup last spring. The 2017 finalists go at it again April 14 in Saskatoon.
CALGARY (1-2) at BUFFALO (1-2), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET.
After splitting their first two games, losing 17-6 in Rochester and winning their home opener 15-12 over Vancouver, the Roughnecks lost 11-7 at home against Colorado last Friday.
The Bandits lost 20-13 in Toronto on Saturday. They had won their home opener 13-9 over Toronto before losing 21-11 in Rochester.
This will be the lone meeting this season. The Bandits went to Calgary last year and lost 13-8. Buffalo won the 2016 game 10-9 at home. Buffalo’s last win in Calgary was by a 15-14 score in 2015.
TORONTO (1-2) at VANCOUVER (0-3), Saturday, 10 p.m. ET
The Rock beat visiting Buffalo 20-13 on Saturday after losing 13-9 in Buffalo and 17-9 at home to Saskatchewan.
The Stealth lost 13-9 at New England last weekend after taking a 9-6 lead into the fourth quarter. Previously, they lost their home opener 15-8 to Colorado and dropped a 15-12 decision in Calgary.
This will be the lone meeting this season. They met twice last season. Vancouver won at home 14-11 and Toronto won at home 13-7. Toronto’s last win at Vancouver was by a 13-11 score on April 2, 2016.
BYES: Rochester (2-1), New England (2-1), Colorado (3-0).