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Georgia Swarm: The Demur Defending Champions Of Professional Lacrosse

By W. M. Lawson

GUILDFORD, ENGLAND - JULY 19: Detail shot of the Australia team's lacrosse sticks during the quarter final match between Australia and Scotland during the 2017 FIL Rathbones Women's Lacrosse World Cup at Surrey Sports Park on July 19, 2017 in Guildford, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
GUILDFORD, ENGLAND - JULY 19: Detail shot of the Australia team's lacrosse sticks during the quarter final match between Australia and Scotland during the 2017 FIL Rathbones Women's Lacrosse World Cup at Surrey Sports Park on July 19, 2017 in Guildford, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images) /
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The Georgia Swarm (11-7) are Division Champs, and host their first playoff game of 2018 on Saturday, May 12th in Duluth. The defending NLL Champions are looking to repeat.

The Braves are resurgent and ascendant, and are East Division leaders. The Falcons, still shaking off the disappointments of the last two years, still have a championship window open. United, despite getting hosed by the refs again this week, are Eastern Division Leaders, and have the 2nd best record in all of MLS. But there is a team based in Atlanta who are defending champs, and are looking to repeat: Your Georgia Swarm.

Look. I get it. Professional Lacrosse isn’t exactly one of the “big 3”. It’s probably not one of the “big 5”. But, the sport, and the National Lacrosse League (NLL), put a fantastic product out on the field, and your Georgia Swarm are the best example of that. They are the defending NLL Champion example of that.

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The Swarm got off to a rough start to the 2017-2018 season. Like most sports, there can be a hangover after attaining the highest success possible in your given area. Not only were they league champions, but tour de force, Lyle Thompson, led the league in scoring last year. There was a lot of hardware passed around.

That may have had an effect on the slow start, or may not have. When I get over there to cover their playoff run, I’ll ask.

What is known, though, is that they rebounded. GS won 8 of their last 10 games, and went on to win the Eastern Division for the 2nd year in a row. The Swarm currently has 4 players in the top 25 in terms of NLL Point Leaders. The aforementioned Mr. Thompson is Top 10. They feature a Goalie, Mike Poulin, who is 2nd in the league in Goals Saved. Meaning, it is a team that scores a bunch, and has terrific back-end defense. That combination is championship material regardless of sport.

Saturday, in Duluth, they face off against the team that handed the Swarm their last loss: The Rochester Knighthawks. Rochester is coming off of a first round playoff win, while Georgia rested on the bye. Both teams are good, high scoring units, with a penchant for exploiting weaknesses.

The Georgia Swarm, while still not at the forefront of the Atlanta Sports scene consciousness, is on the brink of possibly doing something special. Winning championships in successive years, at the professional level, should always be applauded.

They haven’t done that, yet. But show this team some love. What they have done already is win one for City of Atlanta and the State of Georgia. They rep us well.

And they might not be done. We’ll find out Saturday at 7:05 PM.

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