Swarm's Young Stars Shine in Split with Wings
NLL Georgia Swarm

Swarm's Young Stars Shine in Split with Wings

Published on March 2, 2026 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Georgia Swarm News Release


DULUTH, GA - The Georgia Swarm's (8-4) six-game win streak came to an end after a 9-5 loss at Harrah's Cherokee Casino Field at Gas South Arena against the Philadelphia Wings (3-9). However, it was a great weekend all around for some of the swarm's young stars.

Nolan Byrne posted seven points (6G-4A), and Brett Dobson recorded back-to-back 39-save nights in the doubleheader. Not to mention the veterans Lyle Thompson (2G-4A) and Shayne Jackson (2G-4A) each tallying six points (2G-4A) over the weekend.

Friday's game in Philadelphia got underway quickly with Nolan Byrne burying two goals in the first quarter to give Georgia an early lead through 15 minutes. That early 2-0 lead grew to four after Lyle Thompson fired a snapshot from the right side of the net past the glove of Wings' goalie Nick Damude, and a minute later, Shayne Jackson beat Damude short side off a no-look pass from Lyle Thompson.

That run of four unanswered goals came to an end a minute after Jackson's goal as the Wings scored twice in two minutes to cut the Georgia lead to 4-2 with 10 minutes to go in the half. The Swarm got one back five minutes later courtesy of Kaleb Benedict, but the Wings responded again a few minutes later to keep Georgia at 5-3.

The third proved to be a defining quarter for the Swarm as they continued to apply pressure, and it eventually paid off with Bryan Cole sniping one in front of the crease past Damude. The defence and Brett Dobson stood strong down the stretch and limited Philadelphia's scoring chances. The Wings and Swarm each scored once more in the third and set up a pivotal fourth quarter where Georgia took over and never looked back.

The Swarm rallied for a combined four goals from Kaleb Benedict, Mike Triolo, Nolan Byrne, and Shayne Jackson, and limited Philadelphia to two power-play goals in the final frame to keep their win streak alive and end the first game of the doubleheader.

Georgia was right back at it the next day in Duluth for the second meeting against Philadelphia.

The Swarm found themselves down 2-1 at the end of the first quarter despite Nolan Byrne continuing his hot streak from Friday by finding his fourth goal on the weekend. Lyle Thompson opened the scoring in the second to tie it at two apiece and kick-started the Swarm's offence in the second quarter as both teams' offences exploded for a combined eight goals.

Philadelphia scored a pair of goals a minute after Lyle Thompson tied it, and then it was Georgia who answered back with a pair of their own to tie it with six minutes to go in the half. That proved to be the closest the Swarm got to getting back in the lead as Philadelphia scored a pair of goals in the final two minutes, but Georgia got the last laugh of the quarter with a last-second goal to close the half out down 6-5.

That strong second quarter on offence for Georgia came to a fast halt in the third quarter. The Swarm couldn't find a way past Damude in the second half despite going on to outshoot the Wings 53-48 in the game. Philadelphia added two goals in the third and another in the fourth to close out the game and seal the win.

While the Swarm's win streak was snapped with the loss, Comeau credited his team's effort on defence despite the result.

"I think Philly played well, but I don't think they did anything that we didn't expect them to do," Comeau said postgame. "I think they just did it with more speed, more effort, more energy, and again, credit to them ... our defensive unit's been really strong, and I always say goaltending's a function of your defense, and defense is a function of your goaltending, and I think our D's played really well, limited the quality of shots, but when our D has a little bit of a hiccup, Brett [Dobson]'s been there to make those saves."

"They've really complemented each other well, and again, even tonight, not the result we wanted, but I don't think it had anything to do with our goaltending."

Georgia sits fourth in the league standings after a remarkable turnaround since their 19-9 win in Edmonton on January 16. The team is in an excellent position heading into the final weeks of the season before the playoffs.

"Our leadership's really good, and Jordan [MacIntosh] mentioned after the game we have six games left ... the goal of every team in the league to start the season is to make the playoffs. Then the next goal is to win a championship, so we really want to strive to achieve that first goal," Comeau explained. "So that's really the focus, and if you're fortunate enough, it's hard to get a home playoff game, top four teams, but it's something we would love to do for our fans. But we know we have a lot of work to do, and it starts right away."

Across the two games, Brett Dobson made 78 saves for Georgia, and Nick Damude recorded 89 for Philadelphia.

The Swarm went 1-for-5 on the powerplay while the Wings went 5-for-7.

Nolan Byrne: Continues his strong rookie campaign with seven points (6G-1A) in two games.

Lyle Thompson: Scores two goals and racks up six points (2G-4A) on the weekend.

Bryan Cole: 5 points (1G-4A) in the two games against the Wings.

The Swarm will be back in action on Saturday, March 14, at home against the Vancouver Warriors and will close out their three-game homestand against the Halifax Thunderbirds on March 20.

Check out the Georgia Swarm Statistics

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