Swarm Blitz Desert Dogs, Stifle Lefties in 12-9 Win
Interviews with Desert Dogs Head Coach Shawn Williams and Swarm Head Coach Ed Comeau
Photo Credit: Megan Schaefer/Georgia Swarm
Shield bested spear Saturday night at Gas South Arena, as the top NLL defense in the Georgia Swarm (6-3) bested the top NLL offense in the Las Vegas Desert Dogs (4-4) 12-9.
Georgia rattled off a trio of goals to jump to a 3-0 lead, a margin they would more or less maintain throughout the game. Chris Cloutier’s tally streaking off the bench broke the run, but the Swarm restored their three-goal lead with a slick pass disruption and hip-stinging fast break goal from Adam Wiedemann at the end of the first quarter.
The two teams matched each other’s output throughout the rest of the game. Both coaches had successful challenges wiping out opposing goals in the middle of the game, and couple with atypical referee stoppages, it created an odd momentum as the game went along down the stretch, particularly a conflicting call from two refs as to whether a Jonathan Donville shot that rang pipe crossed the goal line (after a review, it was determined to have not).
Vegas’s 6-on-5 game in the final two minutes resulted in Ben McDonald’s first goal with his new team, but that would be their last marker of the game. Lyle Thompson took advantage of an aggressive pressuring defense in the neutral zone to dust his defender and cap the game’s scoring. Georgia won their fourth consecutive game, 12-9.
Donville’s 5 PTS (3G, 2A) led Las Vegas’s scoring, as he and Kyle Killen (3G) accounted for two-thirds of the team’s output. The Desert Dogs left-handed forwards only found the back of the net once 5-on-5, a Jackson Webster power play goal to open the second half. Landon Kells finished with 34 saves for a .739 Sv%.
Georgia had two 8-point games from Thompson (3G, 5A) and Shayne Jackson (2G, 6A). Brett Dobson’s 32 saves saw him end the night with a .780 Sv%.
Photo Credit: Megan Schaefer/Georgia Swarm
Desert Dogs Head Coach Shawn Williams
What's the immediate reaction after that game?
We knew we were going to be coming in playing a good team, and they played well, I think. Obviously, we would like to change the start a bit, and I think it took us a bit to, you know, find our way, and once we found our way, then it was a pretty even game. I think just that start and they were pushing the pace, we knew they were going to push the pace, but when you watched it on film to reality sometimes, it's like, okay. We took a deep breath, and we dug in. I think it was a three quarters battle, which was awesome. It's just unfortunate that we just let it get to 4-1 in the first there.
I thought you guys did a really great job in reverse transition. (Adam) Wiedemann had that one goal, but I think there were just a handful of chances after that.
I'm definitely happy on that. That was a big focus. Obviously, they've been scoring a bunch in the last few games on transition, and they love to push the pace. We were fortunate that way. Like I said, though, it was just that everything else was pretty even other than that first quarter.
This is the first time you guys been held to single digits —
Been a while.
— since your season opener, and then your lefties, you only had two goals for a minute. It was Cloutier and Webster. Is that just a testament to the defense that you played?
Yeah, I think again you give credit. Like, you know, they were on top of things, and they were ready for things, and they made it hard on us, and they blocked a bunch of shots and picked off some stuff. We got some looks, and Dobber’s a great goalie, and he's playing really well this year. So, sometimes you got to throw your hat, you know, hats off to the other team. But again, I was proud of the way we just kept battling and sticking in it and just giving ourselves a chance to the end.
I don't think the numbers are going to favor him too much, but I actually thought Kells was pretty good tonight.
Me too, and I think he's been real steady for most part of this year. He made a huge breakaway save and, you know, just unfortunately, just after that, kind of a red, late-in-the-clock screen shot. But man, I thought he made some great saves, and he just held us in there.
How do you — again, he's been playing better. How do you get just kind of more out of him and the defense?
It's just been a process. You know, he turned over a new leaf coming into camp, and we saw it right away, just his preparation and what he's putting into it off the floor and obviously working hand in hand with Aaron Bold, our new goalie coach, and it's really kind of helped him on the mental side. You can see it, and I think it's just, you know, he's still really young and just gaining confidence. We're still building, and we're still building a lot of parts. We're doing well, we're showing well, but we know we're still not there, but it's, man, this is a great opportunity for us to push and give ourselves a chances and see what happens at the end, getting down to March, April.
Just kind of thinking about that. At this point, you're still .500, 4 and 4. Did you guys think you'd be?
I would take that, you know? Especially with our start and going to Vancouver after two bye weeks after a quick camp, and then going into Buffalo and playing some of these — Ottawa home for a first game. Every team is good. Obviously, I definitely try not to look at records, because that's just a false (sense). Like Philly tonight, and it's just like, hey, no one thinks Buffalo’s as bad as they are, but that's the league. It's so much parity in it, and it's a lot probably better to play in than coach, because you have more fun doing that. But it's awesome. And I think we're right in the thick of things, and that's where we want to be.
So, up next, you guys at Colorado, them coming off of a bye week.
Yeah, they've been hot.
Yeah, one of the top teams in the league. How do you prepare for them?
We'll dig our heels in and get rid of the Georgia film pretty quick, and then move on to Colorado, and that's all we can do. Everything goes so fast once you finish a game. You think you can take a deep breath, but, you know, the guys are ready, and we're going back home, and obviously, we're enjoying playing at home, and it's been awesome there. So, I think it's just another opportunity to be together and to keep taking it step by step.
Photo Credit: Megan Schaefer/Georgia Swarm
Swarm Head Coach Ed Comeau
What’s the immediate reaction after a game like that?
Yeah, it was kind of one of those games where it just, it didn't — I thought we played well, pretty consistent through the game, but yeah, Las Vegas is a really good team. They don't quit, and we couldn't seem to build that gap after that early lead. They were good. It felt a little disjointed with the challenges and some stoppages, but, yeah, happy with getting a win, and in this league, when you win, some nights, it's pretty, and some nights, it's not so pretty, but you celebrate getting the win. It's hard to win in this league. So, we'll take it.
I think one of the things that Vegas did really well against you guys was stuffing the run game. Clearly that had to be a focus against you guys, but still, offense stepped up, especially settled. What were you seeing tonight that worked?
Yeah, I thought we swung the ball well, and we created space. We kind of knew that we're going to have to be physical on some picks and clearing through the middle. And I think when we did that, we had some great looks, like Toron (Eccleston) had some good looks coming across the top and going underneath. Shayne had some good looks on swings. I think when you watch Vegas's offense, it’s a great example of just the ball zip, zip, zips, and when the ball moves like that, it creates opportunities, and teams, it's hard for defenses to react. I think that's where we need to continue to get to there when the ball’s swinging. We've got lots of guys who can score, so we have to make that happen.
Two games in, how are you liking Triolo on the offense?
He's been good. He kind of came in, and we said there's no guarantees on what we're gonna do, but we kind of thought against Halifax, a big defense, we'd get him out there. And he's been good. Good guy, fits in well and certainly makes some space, had a huge goal tonight for us. I think we're still figuring everything out there, but, yeah, he's been good and has really fit in well.
Lyle, premature tales of his demise, went from, like, what, 1.7 points per game? He's at 6.3 now. Just over the last four, I don't think anything's changed with his game, but is there anything that you can think of?
I think at first with Lyle, we were trying to figure out who was going to be there with him and bumping some guys in and out, and it takes a little time for Lyle to figure out how those guys play, but also it takes some time to figure out how Lyle plays, and I think Lyle's done a really good job in the last couple of four or five games of assuming that leadership with the right side, talking about what to do and situations, and that's really, we really see the dividends it's paid, like, in his game and in the other guy's game.
Dobson — is he regressing a lot right now? This is the first time he's had a save percentage under 80% since the Bandits.
Yeah, what was the save percentage?
78, 79, I think.
[Laughing] I thought he played great. I thought, a couple goals went off him and in, and they stung some corners. They shot the ball well. Dobber’s been so good and controlling rebounds, done a great job of that. We'll take that if we can keep keep the highest scoring team of the league under 10, that's a good night for us. And yeah, I'm sure Dobber would like to have a couple back, but, yeah, he's been great all year.
You touched on it — statistically, that was the best offense coming into this weekend, and you guys had the best defense, and even though it's nine goals against, you help them to single digits, and that's their lowest single-game output since their season opener. What does a win like that just say about this team and about the defense?
Well, I think, I don't know what it says to others. I think it says to us that we're doing good things, and we're continuing to evolve. We're still finding, like a lot of teams in the league, we're searching for our best best games and our best effort. We definitely, defensively, I think, we were ahead of the curve of our offense, and hopefully our offense continues. If we can keep teams to single digits and the offense can put up plus 10, then obviously, it's a great spot for us. Our D, we talked about it a lot — we're big back there, athletic, and guys are making great plays, and almost every night that we've had any breakdowns, Dobber's made huge saves for us. We don't want to put that pressure on Brett, and no one does, but he's been great. I say all the time defense is a function of goaltending, goaltending is a function of defense, and I think they've matched very well this year.
Look ahead for you guys, Calgary for your game against them. They dropped tonight’s game; they’re 1-7 at this point. Obviously, you're not going there expecting another 19-9 game, but what's just kind of look ahead?
I thought Calgary's offense is really good and big, and they move the ball like these guys (Las Vegas), too. The night we played them, they defensively had a tough night, but I think they're a lot better team than what the record is. They have a rare home back-to-back. They play the night before, and history tells us in this league teams that are playing back-to-back just have that extra — it’s counterintuitive, you think, oh, they're going to be tired. They typically have an extra step and play smarter because they just played the night before. So, yeah, we're going to go, and we're going to prepare. We'll watch this one and make some notes and then go in next week prepared for a battle. And they usually have huge crowds there, and it's a big weekend for them, big weekend for us.
Are you guys flying ahead of time to watch that first game?
We're practicing on Saturday afternoon, so I think we, if guys want to go, we'll probably get there. It's good for us to get in a little bit early and get settled and get organized, especially after long flights.