Swarm swept
two-time defending champs for first-ever Champion’s Cup
The Georgia Swarm (17-5) won its first-ever Champion’s Cup with a 15-14 overtime victory against the two-time defending champion Saskatchewan Rush (14-8) at SaskTel Centre on Saturday, June 10, 2017.
Georgia’s victory in Game 2 of the best-of-three series was broadcast over the air on 1230AM The Fan2/106.3FM, the first time that a Swarm game was broadcast live in the Atlanta market. Fans worldwide joined the 14,264 in attendance to watch the Swarm win a championship via a live Twitter broadcast.
“Organizations win,” Swarm Co-Owner and President Andy Arlotta said. “This has been a long time in the making, and we stuck to our plan. We’ve gone through a lot of difficult times to get here. It’s nice to see these guys that have been with us continue to have faith in what we were doing. It’s a dream come true. I’m so happy for my dad and the organization.”
“It was pretty exciting,” Swarm Head Coach Ed Comeau said. “We were right there, but they were good. They played hard, our guys played hard. It was awesome … We knew they weren’t going to go away, and we knew how hard they play and how well they prepared. At this level, when the stakes are this high, there’s no quit in anyone right until the very end. Credit to Saskatchewan and their team and their organization and their fans, it’s a great atmosphere. They gave us all we could handle, and we were really fortunate to come out with a win tonight.”
After the game, Georgia players surrounded the Cup awarded to them by NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz after he announced Lyle as the Champion’s Cup Series MVP. Exhausted but elated, the Swarm members celebrated the final victory of their Cinderella season.