Saturday April 25, 7:30 pm, Gas South Arena, ESPN+/TSN+/CW23 in Buffalo

Previous Matchup: Week 1, Buffalo Bandits 15 – Georgia Swarm 11

• Georgia Swarm: 12-6
  • 55.3% Goal Share – 193 GF (10.72 Per Game, 8th), 156 GA (8.67 Per Game, 1st)
  • 49.7% Shot Attempt Share – 1304 Shot Attempts For (72.44 Per Game, 8th), 1322 Shot Attempts Against (73.44 Per Game, 7th)
  • Special Teams: 10.3 PIM Per Game (13th), 75 Minor Penalties (10th)
    • Powerplay: 10th – 34 PPG on 76 PP (45%), 9 SHG Against (10th)
    • Penalty Kill: 3rd – 26 PPGA on 69 SH (62%), 7 SHG For (T-7th)
• Buffalo Bandits: 11-7
  • 52.1% Goal Share – 199 GF (11.06 Per Game, 6th), 183 GA (10.17 Per Game, 6th)
  • 49.5% Shot Attempt Share – 1290 Shot Attempts For (71.67 Per Game, 10th), 1316 Shot Attempts Against (73.11 Per Game, 7th)
  • Special Teams: 13.1 PIM Per Game (T-6th), 95 Minor Penalties (4th)
    • Powerplay: 1st – 31 PPG on 54 PP (57%), 5 SHG Against (1st)
    • Penalty Kill: 2nd – 27 PPGA on 74 SH (64%), 8 SHG For (T-4th)

Forwards

Player	GP	G	A	PTS	LB
Dhane Smith	18	39	79	118	86
Josh Byrne	18	36	77	113	64
Ian MacKay	16	24	34	58	82
Kyle Buchanan	18	29	26	55	71
Tehoka Nanticoke	16	21	16	37	39
Clay Scanlan	17	11	11	22	60
Joe Resetarits (Stats with BUF only)	6	9	6	15	15

Player	GP	G	A	PTS	LB
Shayne Jackson	18	32	50	82	65
Lyle Thompson	18	29	48	77	89
Nolan Byrne	18	36	19	55	91
Bryan Cole	18	14	38	52	60
Kaleb Benedict	18	17	32	49	88
Richie Connell	10	12	6	18	20
Kean Moon	9	5	9	14	22
Toron Eccleston	6	6	5	11	14
Mike Triolo	7	4	3	7	13

Defenses

Player	GP	CTO	BLK	LB	Offense
Cam Wyers	18	21	16	61	1G 4A
Mitch de Snoo	14	18	30	144	3G 8A
Nick Weiss	15	17	7	110	5G 13A
Steve Priolo	18	16	19	98	6G 12A
Dylan Robinson	16	9	5	79	4G 8A
Paul Dawson	18	8	39	59	2A
Thomas Whitty	14	8	12	55	2A
Mike McCannell	9	6	3	27	3A
Zack Belter	10	4	2	17	0 PTS
Matt Spanger	12	3	10	36	2G 4A

Player	GP	CTO	BLK	LB	Offense
Michael Grace	18	28	5	108	6G 8A
Jordan MacIntosh	18	22	15	109	10G 22A
Jacob Hickey	18	21	13	90	6G 10A
Kason Tarbell	17	16	10	40	1G 7A
Mike Manley	18	14	10	62	1G 1A
Adam Wiedemann	15	12	7	75	3G 9A
Seth Van Schepen	17	12	15	66	3G 7A
Jeff Henrick	18	11	8	61	4G 7A
Ben Trumble	18	10	2	54	4G 3A
Liam McGrath	17	9	0	42	2A

Goaltending

• Buffalo
  • Matt Vinc: 1054:11, 9.85 GAA, .791 SV% (173 Goals Allowed and 654 Saves on 827 SOG Faced)
  • Evan Constantopoulos: 36:25, 14.83 GAA, .710 SV% (9 Goals Allowed and 22 Saves on 31 SOG Faced)
• Georgia
  • Brett Dobson: 1022:45, 7.86 GAA, .847 SV% (134 Goals Allowed and 742 Saves on 876 SOG Faced)
  • Devlin Shanahan: 57:41, 18.72 GAA, .640 SV% (18 Goals Allowed and 32 Saves on 50 SGO Faced)

Faceoffs

• Buffalo: Connor Farrell – 16 GP, 218-412 (53%), 97 LB
• Georgia: Committee – 18 GP, 98-420 (23%)

The Preview

So how did the Georgia Swarm defy the expectations of a “turnover” season to punch a third straight ticket to the playoffs? Well, the turnover itself.

After Brendan Bomberry walked in free agency and the team traded Andrew Kew to Colorado, while also not re-signing depth forwards in Miles Thompson and Seth Oakes, the Swarm simply applied next man up out the front door, and 8th overall pick Nolan Byrne walked right in. The rookie who scored 50 goals for Whitby in his draft summer fit right into Kew’s spot and led NLL rookies in goals with 36 and only trailed CJ Kirst and Owen Hiltz in points from first year players. The long lefty adjusted quickly to the speed of the game and found a lot of success both around the crease and on the boards, also putting up 91 loose balls, which was 5th amongst rookies. Kaleb Benedict slid into the hole left by Bomberry signing in Halifax with a similar slash line to Bomberry the season prior but added 4 more goals. His ability to carry the ball helped take some of the weight on the right side of the offense off of Lyle Thompson’s shoulders. Lyle and Shayne Jackson were once again atop the team’s point leaders.

While the team’s goal scoring dropped from 214 to 193 in the regular season, the bread and butter of the Swarm was a record-setting season out the back door with an absurd sub-9 goals against per game. Brett Dobson struggled in 2025 with an 11.82 GAA and .764 SV%, he bounced back with an MVP-caliber season with a 7.86 GAA and .847 SV%. The year-over-year improvement of young defenders such as Jacob Hickey, Seth Van Schepen, Kason Tarbell, and Liam McGrath played a big part in that, but the defense had two rookies of its own that made immediate impact. Michael Grace fit right in during his own rookie season after going 3rd overall in the 2024 draft and was led first year players in caused turnovers with 28 and was third in loose balls with 108. That caused turnover number was also 4th overall, trailing only Brad Kri, Callum Jones, and Matt Hossack. Ben Trumble played all 18 games and caused 10 turnovers of his own and picked up 54 loose balls.

As we pointed out in our season previews way back when, the Swarm were not here to rebuild, and here they are with a 3 win year-over-year improvement. And in true John Arlotta fashion, don’t look now, but the Swarm have three more first round picks in the upcoming draft.

The impact of the rookies is the biggest difference between the team the Bandits played in Week 1, so there’s not a lot that still carries over from then for getting a sense of how this quarterfinal matchup will go. Not to mention that the Bandits defense has been in their own stretch of being amongst the league’s best in the last two months of the regular season. More of the Bandits have playoff experience, but Georgia’s leadership group was around for the organization’s lone championship win in 2017.

The faceoff discrepancy is something that Buffalo can look to take advantage of, but the Swarm’s defense has been able to make up the difference in offensive possessions. Buffalo’s special teams is another advantage in their favor, but the Swarm do not take a lot of penalties, so those opportunities could be slim.

Otherwise, it might sound easy to say, but the better goaltending will probably be the biggest differentiator on Saturday Night in Duluth, and both netminders are playing some of their best lacrosse.

If the Bandits are able to take care of business on the road, they have a homecoming at KeyBank Center waiting for them with home-floor advantage in the semifinals (no you’re not reading that incorrectly, but more on that after the weekend).

Playoff Lore

The Bandits haven’t started the playoffs on the road since Game 1 of the Eastern Final against the New England BlackWolves. That was a two game plus minigame format and they won both games, so they did still have the home floor advantage. The year before would’ve been the last time that they played a one-and-done on the road, a 14-8 loss in Rochester on May 8, 2015.

Only one of the last 5 head-to-head matchups has been played in Georgia, a 14-11 win for the Swarm in Week 21 last season.

This is the second Buffalo-Georgia playoff matchup, with the first coming in the first round in 2024, which featured a Josh Byrne overtime winner.

The Bandits played the Minnesota Swarm in 2 playoff games, an 11-10 win on April 23, 2006 and a 14-8 win on April 22, 2007, both in Buffalo. In the 2006 game, Mark Steenhuis scored the game-winning goal with 3:09 to play after the Swarm tied the game after trailing 10-5 in the third quarter.

Ed Comeau faced the Bandits in the playoffs twice when he was the head coach of the New York Titans in the two years following those Bandits-Swarm matchups. In 2008, Buffalo beat the Titans 19-12 to advance to the championship, which they of course would go on to win. In 2009, the Titans got revenge to advance to their own championship appearance, although they were defeated in the finals by the Calgary Roughnecks. The Titans goalie in those games was, of course, Matt Vinc.

Swarm forward Mike Triolo started his 2025-26 season in Buffalo, playing 2 games and picking up 2 assists. Devlin Shanahan was the backup to Matt Vinc in 2023 and 2024.

(Photo Credit: Buffalo Bandits)