Buffalo Bandits 13 – Calgary Roughnecks 7

After a feel out first 5 minutes, the Roughnecks were first to capitalize on a 3-on-2 goal from Harrison Matsuoka, and while the middle five were also a stalemate, the Bandits got it going in the final 5, starting with a transition goal from Nick Weiss with 4:53 left in the quarter. Josh Byrne found Clay Scanlan rolling open to the net to give Buffalo the lead, and then a minute later, Weiss had a second goal on the break to make it 3-1. On their next possession, Tehoka Nanticoke rebounded a Dhane Smith shot to make it 4-1, which would hold into the end of the first.

Calgary pushed forward to open the second quarter with their biggest run of the game. With Nanticoke in the box for a major for elbowing, the Roughnecks started the quarter with a powerplay, and Tyler Pace scored right away from his weak side on the first possession. While the Bandits PK would hold up for the rest of the major, with a handful of saves from Matt Vinc along the way, a transition goal from Kyle Pepper two minutes later would cut the deficit to one. With 3:22 left in the half, Tanner Cook scored from midrange to tie the game at 4, but a powerplay goal through traffic from Clay Scanlan with 41 seconds left would give the Bandits a lead heading into the half that they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way.

The third quarter started very similarly to the first, with the Roughnecks this time carrying a lot of the possession out of the locker room, but soon after a four shot possession for Calgary around the halfway mark of the frame, Josh Bryne slipped into the middle of the floor and buried a pass from Ian MacKay to make it 6-4. While Haiden Dickson scored on the next possession to get Calgary back within one, the Bandits offense kept its foot on the gas, and Tehoka Nanticoke found MacKay for a goal of his own with 5:31 left. Out of the under 5, Dhane Smith scored his first of the night to make it 8-5, and then the third came to a close with a powerplay dunk from Kyle Buchanan.

While Tyler Pace scored his second of the game to start the fourth quarter, the Bandits offense continued its touch the rest of the way. Dhane Smith found a lane to the net for an open second goal of the game on Buffalo’s next possession, and then a couple minutes later, Smith completed the hat trick picking the far corner for the second straight time to extend the lead to 11-5. After the Roughnecks came up empty on a powerplay halfway through the quarter, Ryan Benesch joined in on the scoring after a tic-tac-toe play with Tehoka Nanticoke and Josh Byrne. While Tanner Cook scored on Calgary’s next touch, the Bandits had a quick answer of their own with Kyle Buchanan slipping open to the net and burying a pass from Smith with 4:17 to play. The 13-7 score would hold the rest of the way, as the Bandits got their first road win of the season to wrap up a memorable 2025.

It was a pretty standard looking Bandit win from what the league has become accustomed to seeing during their dynasty run. Dhane Smith led with 3 goals and 6 assists, while Josh Byrne had a goal and 7 assists. Kyle Buchanan’s 2 goals and 3 assists were joined with a goal and 3 assists from both Ian MacKay and Tehoka Nanticoke. On defense, the trend from last season of the defense throttling teams in the second half of games continued, backended with Matt Vinc making 22 of his 40 saves in the final 30 minutes. For Calgary, who falls to 0-3, Tyler Pace had 2 goals and 3 assists to lead the way, and Tanner Cook added 2 goals and an assist. Brayden Mayea had 3 assists.

Saskatchewan Rush 10 – Halifax Thunderbirds 9

The semifinals rematch lived up to the expectations, as former Thunderbird Austin Shanks scored the winner with 1:02 remaining in a game that was back and forth the entire way, as the Rush took the first leg of a home-and-home. Shanks, along with Zach Manns, had 2 goals and an assist. Ryan Keenan led Saskatchewan with 2 goals and 4 assists. Their defense held the Thunderbirds to 7 shots on goal in the fourth quarter, with Frank Scigliano getting the win with 33 saves. Halifax was led by 3 goals and 3 assists from Randy Staats, while Clarke Petterson had 4 assists and each of Dawson Theede and Cody Jamieson scored twice.

Ottawa Black Bears 16 – Philadelphia Wings 12

Cue Pat Gregoire saying that lacrosse is a game of runs. Ottawa scored the first 4 and opened up the third with a three goal run for a 9-4 lead before they, for the fourth straight game, gave up 6+ goals in a row. However, across the final 10 minutes, they would score 7 of the final 8 goals for a 16-12 home victory to get back to 2-2 on the season. The offense of the Black Bears fired on all cylinders, led by 2 goals and 9 assists from Jeff Teat. Reilly O’Connor had 3 goals and 4 assists, while Rob Hellyer and Connor Kearnan combined for 6 goals and 6 assists. On the other side, Brennan O’Neill stormed back from being limited the week before in Rochester with 6 goals and 2 assists to lead the Wings in this one, while Joe Resetarits distributed 6 assists.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs 17 – Toronto Rock 11

The Proof of Concept came to fruition for the offense of the Desert Dogs, with their new shiny toys combining for 21 points (Mitch Jones 2G 7A, Chris Cloutier 2G 5A, Chase Fraser 3G 2A) in a road win over the Rock. Even the newcomers on the back end had 4 points combined with a goal and assist for John LaFontaine and 2 assists for Tony Malcom. Jonathan Donville added a goal and 5 assists, while Jackson Webster also had 3 goals and 2 assists, and Landon Kells made 43 saves in the win. CJ Kirst led the Rock with 4 goals and an assist. Troy Holowchuk got a surprise start, stopping 16 of 24 shots faced before being relieved by Nick Rose for 23:24. Rose stopped 19 of 27.

Georgia Swarm 12 – Colorado Mammoth 3

Just when it was looking like it was going to be a week without any drastically low scoring totals, Brett Dobson pitched a second half shutout with 22 saves in the final two quarters, as the Swarm’s offense bounces back with their highest goal total of the season in a 12-3 win in Denver. Kaleb Benedict had a hat trick to lead in goal scoring while 8 other members of Georgia’s offense chipped in with goals of their own, including Shayne Jackson who also had 4 assists and Lyle Thompson who added 3 helpers. Dylan McIntosh, Owen Rahn, and Connor Nock were the goal scorers for the Mammoth. Ryan Lee assisted on all 3 goals.

Week 6 Preview

But first, deals, as the Jack Hannah RFA saga came to a resolution, as the Colorado Mammoth will receive the services of the 26 year old while sending the Las Vegas Desert Dogs first round picks in 2026 and 2027, as well as a 2028 second round pick. The 2026 first round pick is listed as a compensatory selection, as the Mammoth’s regular first rounder is in the possession of the Georgia Swarm following the Andrew Kew trade.

Friday January 2

Halifax Thunderbirds (2-1) @ Saskatchewan Rush (3-1) – 8:00 pm

For the Thunderbirds to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Rush in their home-and-home, they’ll need to win in Saskatoon for the first time since February of 2024 (two other meetings in between at SaskTel Centre).

Saturday January 3

Las Vegas Desert Dogs (2-1) @ Buffalo Bandits (2-1) – 7:00 pm

A game that most of Bandits fans circled fairly quickly this fall, Chase Fraser and Chris Cloutier will take on their former teammates for the first time on Saturday. It’s the first matchup of this season’s Tucker Out Lymphoma Cup which of course features the Bandits, Shawn Williams’s Desert Dogs, and Dyson Williams’s Oshawa FireWolves. Buffalo has won both all-time meetings with Vegas, including last season’s 13-10 win.

Rochester Knighthawks (2-0) @ Colorado Mammoth (1-2) – 9:00 pm

Jack Hannah’s availability for the matchup is not yet known, but there is a chance that he does make his Burgundy debut this Saturday with the undefeated Knighthawks coming to town. The Mammoth have won all three all time matchups with the Expansion-Era Knighthawks, with the last at Ball Arena in the form of a 13-7 win on March 23, 2024. It will, of course, also be the first time Zed Williams returns to Denver after his offseason trade to Rochester.

Ottawa Black Bears (2-2) @ Oshawa FireWolves (1-3) – 7:00 pm

Former inner-state rivals will face off with each other as inner-provincial foes, as the FireWolves welcome the Ottawa Black Bears to town. The Black Bears won last season’s matchup 18-9 in Albany on February 15. It was the FireWolves who defeated the New York Riptide 16-10 in their final game on Long Island back on April 20, 2024.

Calgary Roughnecks (0-3) @ San Diego Seals (1-1) – 10:00 pm

The Seals return to action after two bye weeks over the holiday and have a desperate Roughnecks team coming to town. San Diego has had a lot of success against Calgary historically to the tune of an 11-4 record all time. The Roughnecks have not won in San Diego since December 27, 2019. The Seals won last year’s matchup at the Saddledome 16-12.

(Photo Credit: Jenn Pierce)