Another exciting game for the Swarm, but once again, they fall on the wrong side of the coin. With another chance to clinch the playoffs, the Swarm came out feisty and traded blows for 60 minutes with one of the best in the game.
For the first 50 minutes of the game, both teams appeared to be content to knock each other’s heads off rather than score goals. Both goaltenders made some huge saves, and the defenses locked down. To illustrate this point, the score at the end of one was 2-1 Swarm. Not exactly your typical NLL game.
Eventually, the offense turned on and the teams began trading goals. The physical play wouldn’t stop, and every time the Swarm would start to rally back, the Bandits would put their foot back on the gas. They came as close as one goal a couple times, but the Bandits were having none of it today.
Even the return home of captain Ryan Cousins and two goals from Benesch and Crawford were not enough to bolster the Swarm. The fans at the X did everything the could to pump up their team, at one point sounding louder with the 9294 announced crowd than any sell out from the Wild all season. Nothing seemed to be enough, though, and the Swarm drop their second straight.
With the win, the Bandits clinch a playoff spot in the East, and postpone the Swarm’s clinching yet again. The Swarm will try again on Saturday, here at the X at 6 PM.
We’ll see you then.
Also of note, SBNation welcomes Todd Foell of Todd James Photography to the family. You'll be seeing more of his work on SBNation Minnesota and Hockey Wilderness in the coming weeks.