Swarm hammer Roughnecks in NLL’s return to Edmonton

Shawn Slaght

I've been a professional journalist since 2005 and I've covered sports across Saskatchewan and Alberta including World Cup Alpine Skiing, national and world curling championships and junior hockey. I've been cover lacrosse and the Saskatchewan Rush since 2017.

EDMONTON, ALBERTA – January 16, 2026: The National Lacrosse League (NLL) presents the UnBOXed Series from Rogers Place. Calgary Roughnecks vs Georgia Swarm. (Photo by Cliff McCaig/NLL).

The Georgia Swarm cruised to a 19-9 win over the Calgary Roughnecks in the Unboxed Series game that saw the NLL return to Edmonton on Friday night.

It marked the first professional lacrosse game played in Edmonton since 2015, when the Edmonton Rush won the National Lacrosse League championship before relocating to Saskatoon the following season to become the Saskatchewan Rush.

Lyle Thompson silenced any doubters with a dominant 10-point performance, scoring four goals and adding six assists. Alberta product Toron Eccleston returned to Georgia’s lineup and provided a major boost, finishing with four goals and one assist.

Brett Dobson put on a goaltending clinic, stopping 30 of 34 shots before being pulled in the fourth quarter to give Devlin Shanahan some playing time.

First Quarter

Georgia jumped out to a commanding 6-0 lead to open the game, putting Calgary in a deep hole early.

Seth Van Schepen scored unassisted 2:18 into the contest, followed by Eccleston at 4:29.

Thompson got on the board at 5:35, and rookie Kean Moon scored his first career NLL goal just 27 seconds later to make it 4-0.

Shayne Jackson extended the lead at 8:23, and Bryan Cole capped the six-goal run at 10:43.

Calgary finally got on the board with 1:55 remaining in the quarter when Tanner Cook found the back of the net.

However, with just three seconds left, Kaleb Benedict scored to give the Swarm a commanding 7-1 lead after the first quarter.

Second Quarter

Haiden Dickson scored just 22 seconds into the second quarter as the Roughnecks looked to build some momentum.

Those hopes were quickly dashed, as the Swarm rattled off four straight goals to close out the first half.

Thompson scored at 9:10, followed by Eccleston with 2:19 left on the clock.

Cole made it 10-2, and Eccleston struck again with 41 seconds remaining as Georgia took an 11-2 lead into halftime.

Third Quarter

Things went from bad to worse for the Roughnecks in the third.

Jackson scored at the 1:07 mark, and Thompson added another just 25 seconds later on the power play to make it 13-2.

Jackson struck again at 3:49 to put Georgia up by 12.

Brayden Mayea briefly got Calgary back on the board at 6:01, but Eccleston answered with a power-play goal at 7:02 to make it 15-3.

Frustration boiled over as Roughnecks head coach Josh Sanderson was ejected from the game.

The Swarm didn’t let up, with Thompson scoring again on the power play at 8:30.

Tyler Pace rounded out the third-quarter scoring with 2:56 remaining, as Georgia led 16-4.

Fourth Quarter

With the game out of hand, Calgary found a bit of momentum in the fourth quarter.

Cook scored just 48 seconds in, and former Edmonton Rush forward Riley Loewen—making his return to the City of Champions—scored off a feed from Dickson at 3:36 to make it a 10-goal game.

Georgia then put the nail in the coffin with a three-goal run. Cole scored at 4:11, followed by Moon in his impressive debut at 5:11. Nolan Byrne rounded out the run at 7:13, giving the Swarm a 19-6 lead.

The Roughnecks went down swinging. Mayea scored with six minutes remaining to start a three-goal run.

Pace found the back of the net with 1:52 left, and Cook scored on the power play with 20 seconds remaining, but Georgia secured the 19-9 victory in the NLL’s return to Edmonton.

Calgary Roughneck’s head coach Josh Sanderson gave his thoughts after the game: