The Albany FireWolves (6-8) were defeated by the Georgia Swarm (7-6), 15-12, at the MVP Arena in Albany on Saturday evening. Albany had a five-goal lead in the third quarter, but the Swarm were able to fire back with eight goals in the fourth to win the game. Full statistics from the game can be found here: https://albanyfirewolves.com/game/1545/.
| SCORE BY QUARTER | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL | ||||||
| ALBANY | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 12 | ||||||
| GEORGIA | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 15 |
The Albany offense began the game with two chances on net, but it was the Swarm who came back the other way and scored the first goal as Jeff Henrick buried one in transition. Just a couple minutes later, the FireWolves tied the game as Joe Resetarits notched his first of the night. With just under six minutes to go in the period, Jacob Ruest gave the FireWolves their first lead of the night, beating goaltender Mike Poulin over the middle.
After a delayed penalty on Albany, Jordan MacIntosh caught a pass behind the goal and dove forward to dunk the ball and tie the game at two goals apiece. Less than 20 seconds later, Resetarits fired in his second goal of the night to regain the lead for the FireWolves. Working quickly once again, Andrew Kew added his name to the stat sheet, scoring his first goal of the night to extend the Albany lead later in the quarter.
Albany was hit with a penalty just minutes into the second quarter, giving the Swarm their first power play chance of the contest, which the FireWolves were able to kill off. Taking nearly halve the period for either team to score, Colton Watkinson ended the drought as he took a Swarm turnover and ran all the way down floor for a goal. About one minute later, Georgia scored their first of the quarter as Shayne Jackson caught a one-timer from MacIntosh.
Keeping up the pace, Resetarits quickly completed his hat trick as the FireWolves regained a three-goal advantage. With about three minutes remaining in the half, Ruest notched his second of the contest after scooping a loose ball in traffic. Wasting no time, Stephan Leblanc recorded his first goal of the evening for Georgia, but Albany took the ensuing faceoff and scored one of their own off the stick of Jackson Nishimura with two minutes to play in the half.
Following multiple empty possessions by both sides, Albany’s Adam Bomberry was penalized for elbowing, giving Georgia a much-needed man-up advantage. It was Albany who was able to find the back of the net as Nishimura notched his second of the night, this time short-handed. Not even a minute later, Lyle Thompson scored his first of the contest, as Albany held onto a 9-5 lead. Thompson wasted no time scoring his second as he sniped one in from deep, beating Doug Jamieson over his left shoulder. Thompson quickly completed his hat trick, scoring three goals in just over two minutes of action. Following a penalty on Georgia, Albany was unable to score at the end of the quarter as they took a 9-7 lead into the final 15 minutes of the game.
On Albany’s first possession of the final period, Kew caught a hard rebound off the net and quickly put back his second goal of the night, giving Albany a three-goal lead. After an illegal substitution penalty on Albany, the Swarm quickly got a goal back as Thompson netted his fourth of the night. Georgia brought the game back within one as Chad Tutton beat Jamieson on a Swarm transition. The FireWolves were able to silence the short Swarm run as Jordan Durston fired a missile into the back of the net. Jordan Hall helped Georgia quickly answer as he beat Jamieson. The Swam then were able to take the lead as Jackson and Hall each scored their second goals of the contest.
Bryan Cole was able to keep the Swarm run going as he gave Georgia a two-goal lead with six minutes to go. Albany was finally able to stop the bleeding as Charlie Kitchen cut across the middle and buried a goal. After an Albany goal was waved off, Thompson dove across the crease and beat Jamieson for his fifth of the evening. Jackson then completed his hat trick as he scored on an empty net, giving Georgia a 15-12 lead with under a minute to go. That goal capped off an eight-goal fourth quarter as the Swarm were victorious in Albany.
The FireWolves are back on the road against the New York Riptide on Saturday, March 26. The game is at 7 p.m. at the Nassau Live Center in Long Island and can be watched on ESPN+ and My4 Albany. This will be the first of two regular season matchups between the FireWolves and Riptide.
Fans can secure their tickets for the next FireWolves home game now! For more information regarding tickets, visit www.AlbanyFireWolves.com or call/text the FireWolves front office at 518-362-4900.
The Albany FireWolves 2021-22 Inaugural Season is presented by CDPHP.
The Albany FireWolves is the Capital Region’s very own Professional Box Lacrosse team, playing in the National Lacrosse League out of the MVP Arena in downtown Albany, NY. For more information, contact the Albany FireWolves Front Office at (518) 362-4900 or visit AlbanyFireWolves.com.