Digby Seals The Deal For Black Wolves

Tyler Digby (23) scored the game winner in the Black Wolves' 13-12
victory over the Georgia Swarm on Saturday night.

Photos by Bill Harper

UNCASVILLE—Tyler Digby scored with just under three minutes to play to give the Black Wolves a

13-12 victory over the Georgia Swarm on Saturday night. The forward had two goals and three assists in the victory for New England (3-1) while Callum Crawford had three goals and three assists and Stephan Leblanc added two goals and two assists. Reilly O’Connor tied his career-high with six assists in the victory.

Leblanc got the scoring started just 37 seconds into play off a pass from O’Connor but Georgia (4-2) answered just 58 seconds later with a goal by Randy Staats. Leblanc found the back of the net again just over a minute later before Georgia rattled off two in a row to take a 3-2 lead with 9:46 to play in the quarter. The Black Wolves tied it up with 6:58 left on Ryan Fournier’s first goal in a New England uniform. Staats closed out the scoring in the first quarter to give Georgia a 4-3 advantage.

Ryan Fournier (81) scored the game-tying goal, his second of the game,
in the third period.

Digby put the Black Wolves on the board first in the second 2:13 into play to tie it back up at 4-4 and the two teams traded goals back and forth over the next 10 minutes. Crawford and Dereck Downs picked up goals for New England during that span while Shayne Jackson and Lyle Thompson found the back of the net to put the score at 6-6 heading into halftime.

Georgia got on the board first in the third on a goal from Miles Thompson 3:08 into the frame, but Fournier tied it back up with his second of the night 1:41 later to tie the score again. Georgia took the lead with 7:34 left, but Seth Oakes answered and Andrew Suitor scored his first of the season over the next three minutes to put the Black Wolves up 9-8 with 4:24 left. The Swarm scored twice more in the next two minutes to take a 10-9 lead, but New England closed out the frame with two goals from Crawford and another from Downs to take a 12-10.

Lyle Thompson found the back of the net 1:01 into the fourth to cut the New England lead to one, 12-11. He picked up his fourth of the night with 4:55 left to play to tie the score again, this time at 12-12. Digby scored his second with 2:52 to play to put the Black Wolves up 13-12 and secured the victory.

Dereck Downs' (77) third goal of the game gave the Wolves a cushion.

Alex Buque had 37 saves in the victory for the Black Wolves, picking up his second win of the year. For Georgia, Mike Poulin had 41 saves in the loss. Staats led the Swarm with seven points on three goals and four assists while Lyle Thompson had four goals and one helper. Miles Thompson had two goals and three assists for the Swarm.

The Black Wolves will be in action next on Sunday, Jan. 27, when they take on the Buffalo Bandits at 6 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena.