Brodie MacDonald had 35 saves and Johnny Powless scored three goals in the first quarter to lead the Georgia Swarm to a 12-7 victory in their home opener against the Toronto Rock on Saturday night in the National Lacrosse League at Infinite Energy Arena in Gwinnett.
An announced crowd of 9,087 made plenty of noise at the newly named Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Field. “It was awesome,” Powless said. “… It was nice and loud. It’s a great place to play.”
Powless’ third goal gave Georgia its first lead at 4-3, in the opening 15 minutes.
“It looked like it was headed like last week with a lot of goals early,” coach Ed Comeau said in a news release. “Then, credit to our goaltending and defense. They really made some big saves and some great plays in the second half.”
In the second half, MacDonald stopped 17 of the 18 shots he faced.
Georgia was led on offense by Powless, who added an assist to his four-goal night. Forward Shayne Jackson (2G, 3A) and rookie F Randy Staats (3G, 4A), who has recorded a team-high 14 points (6G, 8A) through his first two career games in the NLL, added to the Swarm’s output.
The Swarm plays again on Jan. 17 at home against the New England Black Wolves at 2 p.m.
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