Friday Night Breakdown: Best Performances and Biggest Takeaways

Week 14 kicked off with two games on Friday night, with the Georgia Swarm making their first visit to Canada’s capital city and Albany visiting Rochester for the rights to claim the battle of New York state.

Georgia Swarm Win 15-9 Against The Ottawa Black Bears

Lyle Thompson’s Georgia Swarm got the better of Jeff Teat’s Ottawa Black Bears in the NLL Friday Night on TSN. It was the first-ever visit by the Swarm to Ottawa, which is surrounded by three Mohawk territories. It was a chance for young Indigenous kids to see some of their heroes up close.

Although Teat fired four goals and three assists, beating Thompson on the scoresheet by one goal, it’s the final score that matters. Ottawa falls down the standings with a 5-6 record, while Georgia remains near the top at 7-4.

Goals came fast and furious to start the game, with Georgia leading 3-2 before within the first five minutes. Before the period was out, Thompson had scored the 350^th goal of his career, wiring the ball into the back of the net from distance. He is the 28^th player in League history to reach that plateau.

Ottawa roared back to life in the second quarter, scoring five goals in a row for a 7-6 halftime lead. In the second half, Georgia turned on the jets, and Brett Dobson stood firm in goal, allowing the Swarm to outscore the Black Bears 9-2. Andrew Kew’s BTB goal in the third was the highlight of the game, as he tossed a desperation shot on goal while being held up by a defender.

“This isn’t a hope and a prayer, this is skill precision” – @PGreggy

It’s also an #SCtop10 worthy goal for Andrew Kew 😏 pic.twitter.com/MAwUTUt9hx

— NLL (@NLL) March 1, 2025

Thompson and Kew led the Swarm with three goals and three assists each. Seth Oakes also contributed a hat trick with one assist, while Shayne Jackson scored twice and added four assists. Dobson made 42 saves.

Jacob Dunbar scored a pair of goals for Ottawa and Connor Kearnan a goal and five helpers. Zach Higgins made 31 saves in the loss.

Rochester Knighthawks Win 14-7 Against The Albany FireWolves

The Rochester Knighthawks (6-7) continued to trend upward, scoring their second consecutive win as they chased the FireWolves (3-9) out of Blue Cross Arena. They’ve put up 29 goals in their last two games, thanks in part to the play of Ryan Smith, who was on fire on Friday night with 4 goals and 3 assists. His hat-trick effort moves him into first place with 32 goals on the campaign. He almost had 5, if not for a heroic save by Alex Simmons, who hustled back to guard the FireWolves’ empty cage on a late five-on-three power play.

Not too often do you get to see our leading goal scorer making saves too 😳#GetFiredUp🔥 pic.twitter.com/V7NWiKsHNR

— Albany FireWolves Lacrosse Club (@AlbFireWolves) March 1, 2025

Smith’s teammate, Ryan Lanchbury, is fourth in League scoring with 80 points, six of which he added against Albany.

Wearing specially designed Indigenous Black Widow-inspired Marvel jerseys, the Knighthawks led 5-2 at halftime. Albany got within a goal early in the fourth, but Rochester closed it out with six straight tallies to end the game.

Connor Fields scored a pair of goals and 5 assists, while Lanchbury scored twice and added four assists. Curtis Knight also scored a pair.

Rylan Hartley had 36 saves in the win, holding the dangerous trio of Dyson Williams, Alex Simmons, and Tye Kurtz to a combined 4 goals.

“That’s good stuff,” said a smiling Hartley after the game. “That number on the board is our defence doing their job and giving me easy shots.”

Williams picked up the hat trick with 1 assist, with Simmons reversing that for himself—1 goal and 3 assists. Doug Jamieson saved 60 of the whopping 63 shots he faced, with Andrew Kidd relieving him for 3:40 of action.