Swarm Sweep Weekend Doubleheader over Knighthawks to End Regular Season on High Note
NLL Georgia Swarm

Swarm Sweep Weekend Doubleheader over Knighthawks to End Regular Season on High Note

Published on April 20, 2026 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Georgia Swarm News Release


ROCHESTER - The Georgia Swarm (12-6) defeated the Rochester Knighthawks (6-12) in back-to-back nights, winning 13-6 on Saturday in Georgia before closing the regular season with a 17-12 victory at Blue Cross Arena on Sunday.

Shayne Jackson led the way across the weekend with 13 total points, while Lyle Thompson added 11, including an eight-point performance in Sunday's finale.

Saturday: Swarm control pace in decisive home win

Georgia fell behind early after a pair of Rochester goals put them up 2-0 early. But the Swarm responded with three goals to close out the quarter and take the lead at 3-2after Kaleb Benedict, Nolan Byrne - on the man advantage - and Ben Trumble found the back of the net.

Things came crashing down, scoring-wise, in the second as both teams tightened up defensively and held each other to a goal apiece. But it was Georgia that was still hanging onto a slim lead heading to the second half. Then the floodgates opened for The Swarm offence, who quickly found their rhythm, starting with a score three minutes into the quarter, which began a 5-0 run for the Swarm.

Up 9-3 going to the final frame, it was looking like the swarm were going to sail into the sunset before flipping to focusing on the second of the back-to-back the following night. And that's exactly what unfolded in the fourth. Georgia kept their foot on the gas pedal and scored four more in the quarter while the Knighthawks scored three times, with two coming in the final three minutes. The win set up the Swarm to go for their second victory in as many nights ahead of the regular-season finale.

Sunday: Offensive surge secures sweep in Rochester

The momentum from Saturday's win set the tone for Georgia's opening quarter on Sunday, as Kean Moon and Nolan Byrne tallied goals early in the first to take a 2-0 lead. But the quarter was just beginning to get started, as the two teams combined for five goals in the remaining six minutes of the quarter. Georgia continued to find ways to score, though, thanks to Kaleb Benedict getting on the board on the power play and Nolan Byrne scoring his second of the quarter and Richie Connell adding on more to make it 5-2 Swarm after 15 minutes.

The scoring wave continued from the first, and it continued to spill over when Shayne Jackson opened the scoring in the second, 31 seconds in. Nolan Byrne followed by picking up his third of the night as he scored on the power play before Kaleb Benedict also scored on the man advantage three minutes later to make it 8-3 Swarm. Kean Moon added the finishing touch of the half to extend the lead by one more to put Georgia up 9-3 at halftime.

The third opened with Lyle Thompson making it 10-3 before Rochester started a comeback and scored four in a row to cut the Swarm's lead to just three with six minutes to go in the quarter. However, Bryan Cole answered back on the power play to stop the run and switch the momentum back to Georgia's favour.

The Swarm battled back in the fourth and continued to close out the game with high intensity and outscored the Knighthawks 5-1 to make it 16-8 with under six to go in the game. Rochester did not go away quietly, though. They scored four times in less than three minutes to bring it to 16-12, but by then it was too little too late, as Richie Connell added the finishing touch with 41 seconds to seal the game and Georgia's 12th win of the season.

Brett Dobson recorded 50 saves in the Swarm's win in Georgia and recorded 47 more on Sunday, while Devlin Shanahan recorded three on Sunday in his four minutes of action. Riley Hutchcraft stopped 34 shots on Sunday and 31 on Saturday in Georgia while playing all 120 minutes in two days.

Georgia went 5-7 on the power play through the weekend, while Rochester went 2-8 and struggled to contain the Swarm on the man advantage.

Shayne Jackson: scored 13 points (3G-10A) through the doubleheader and increased his point total to 33 (9G-24A) in the last five games. Jackson earned his 1,000 career points this weekend!

Lyle Thompson: posted eight points (3G-5A) in the win on Sunday and three (2G-1A) on Saturday and now has 26 points through four games.

Nolan Byrne: scored three goals and has eight points (7G-1A) in his past three games

With the pair of victories, Georgia finishes the regular season at 12-6, carrying momentum into the postseason after one of its most complete offensive weekends of the year.

The Swarm will be back in action at Gas South Arena on Saturday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. ET against the No. 5 seed Buffalo Bandits in a single elimination game to begin the playoffs.

Check out the Georgia Swarm Statistics

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National Lacrosse League Stories from April 20, 2026


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