May 24
Swarm advance to the NLL Champion's Cup Final
By: Jeremy Freeborn
Published: May 24, 2017
The Georgia Swarm of the National Lacrosse League have advanced to their very first Champion's Cup Final in franchise history. On Saturday, the Swarm beat the Toronto Rock 13-9 to win the best out of three Eastern Division Final two games to none.
The Swarm will now play the Saskatchewan Rush in the 2017 Champion's Cup Final, which will start on Sun., June 4 at the Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth, Georgia at 5pm eastern time. The series will then shift to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on Sat., June 10 at 9:30 p.m. eastern time and then if necessary, will return to Duluth on Sun., Jun. 18 with the same time of 5pm eastern time.
The Rush will be a formidable opponent for the Swarm. They have won the last two Champion's Cups. In 2015, while the Rush were based out of Edmonton, they defeated the Toronto Rock two games to none. Then in 2016, when the Rush were in Saskatchewan for the first time, they beat the Buffalo Bandits two games to none.
The Swarm are led by Lyle Thompson of Onondaga, New York. In the 2017 NLL season, Thompson led the NLL with 116 points. He had three more points than the Rush leading scorer, Mark Matthews, who had 113 points. The Swarm have a connection with the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL because they both share the Infinite Energy Arena in Duluth.