Buffalo Bandits 16 – Albany FireWolves 10

It was truly an emotional full circle moment for the Williams family. While Shawn Williams was coaching against the Georgia Swarm in Las Vegas, Dyson was about to play in a Tucker Out Lymphoma game in the arena where the event began back in 2014, on what would have been Tucker’s 19th birthday, and Saturday night both in Buffalo and Las Vegas was another reminder of one of the greatest contributions of the NLL to working to make the world a better place.

The FireWolves drew a penalty on their opening possession of the game, and Ethan Walker scored to give Albany the 1-0 lead early. An outside laser from Chris Cloutier minutes later tied the game, and then after the Bandits took the next possession as well, Ian MacKay scored net-from on a rebound to take their first lead. Carson Moyer scored to tie the game at 2, and then after about five minutes of a stalemate, Matt Spanger scored in transition to give Buffalo a lead they wouldn’t give back. Out of the under 5 timeout, Dhane Smith fed a cutting Chase Fraser for a goal net front, and then after another faceoff win, Smith scored on a bouncer from outside. Buffalo forced a shot clock violation after Albany got the ball next, and back the other way, Josh Byrne found space through traffic to not only push the Bandits lead to 4, but also chasing Doug Jamieson after 12:19 in favor of Andrew Kidd.

While Alex Simmons would end the run to finish off the opening quarter’s scoring, the Bandits opened scoring in the second a minute in with a powerplay goal from Dhane Smith. Josh Byrne and Tye Kurtz exchanged goals in the middle of the quarter before another Bandits powerplay led to Byrne’s third of the game, and then Tehoka Nanticoke joined in on the scoring net front to give the Bandits a 10-4 lead they would take into halftime.

When there’s smoke, there’s fire, and when there’s a comfortable Bandits lead, there’s usually a highlight reel goal coming from Chase Fraser, as he went behind the back on a run out from behind the net. But Albany would take control of the third as it progressed on. Penalties 30 seconds apart gave the FireWolves a 5-on-3 where they would capitalize with two powerplay goals, first from Ethan Walker and then second from Alex Simmons picking a corner from the shooter spot. With 5:48 left in the quarter, Travis Longboat scored in his return from injury, and then a couple minutes later, Simmons found Tye Kurtz who was able to cut the deficit to 3. With help from their defense limiting the Bandits offense to 9 shots on goal in the frame, Albany was making it a game again.

But it wouldn’t last, as with the game at 4-on-4, Chase Fraser found Tehoka Nanticoke on a pick and roll to end the Albany run, and then Dhane Smith took advantage on a defensive miscommunication on a screen to beeline to the net with speed and quickly push the Bandits lead back up to 5. Special teams continued to be the theme of the quarter, as Ethan Walker scored on the powerplay to get back on the board, and then after another Bandit penalty with 7:05 to play, Josh Byrne cut back door shorthanded and caught an East-West pass from Fraser to make it 14-9. Albany got another powerplay as the game entered its final five minutes, but once again, the Bandits were the ones to score, as Ian MacKay split a double team and scored with the second defender still wrapped around him. Then with the Bandits now on a powerplay, Bryne drew another penalty and then rebounded his own miss where he scored on a crease dive. While John Piatelli scored a shorthanded goal with 1:24 to play, the damage had already been done, and the Bandits took the first NLL Finals rematch of the season to improve to 6-0 with a 16-10 win.

Who else atop the statsheet for Buffalo but their star duo? Josh Byrne had 5 goals and 5 assists, and Dhane Smith had 3 goals and 3 assists for matching 10 point games. Chase Fraser led the secondary scoring with 2 goals and 3 assists, while Ian MacKay and Tehoka Nanticoke each had 2 goals and an assist. Matt Vinc made 37 assists in the win. Connor Farrell lost the faceoff battle 17-14, but he did get to take a penalty shot in the final minute of the game to send those who hadn’t left KeyBank Center into a frenzy despite his offering being saved.

The FireWolves fall to 2-7 with the loss, as their follow up from last season’s finals run has been disappointing on many fronts, whether it has been injuries or the struggles for a “full 60” or the straight up lack of luck in the games that have made it to overtime. While the season’s progression makes it tougher to escape your record, it only shows another instance in how tight the league is this year (well…aside from the two-time defending champs at the top). Alex Simmons led the offense with 2 goals and 5 assists, while each of Tye Kurtz, Ethan Walker, and Travis Longboat each had 4 points. Despite no goals, Dyson Williams chipped in with 3 assists. Andrew Kidd made 31 saves in his 47:41 of relief.

Rochester Knighthawks 15 – Philadelphia Wings 12

It took 10 consecutive weeks of lacrosse for the Rochester Knighthawks, but they had finally gotten their franchise goalie back, as Rylan Hartley entered the pipes at Wells Fargo Center for the first time this season. It was a quick welcome back, as after Ryan Lanchbury finished an outside quick stick on the first possession of the game, Brennan O’Neill scored on a long bouncer on the run to tie the game on Philadelphia’s first shot of their own. After Hartley made his first save on the season on the next touch, his offense continued to swing the ball around early to the tune of four shots on the second possession of the game, finished off with an offensive rebound in front and a goal from Graydon Hogg. After Mitch Jones buried a crease dive on the next possession, the game did slow down for the next five minutes, with two transition saves from Nick Damude on the next Knighthawks touch being the highlight. Joe Resetarits gave the Wings their first lead of the game halfway through the quarter, but then Connor Fields re-tied the game on a Rochester’s first powerplay of the night about a minute later. After a faceoff violation from the Wings, the Knighthawks got the ball back and scored again thanks to Hogg’s second of the game on a quick stick from Lanchbury.

Opening the second quarter, Thomas McConvey entered the play of the week conversation with a one handed roller to put the Knighthawks up 2. Phil Caputo and Ryan Smith exchanged goals before the Wings got goals in quick succession out of the under 10 timeout on outside shots from Joe Resetarits and Hartley’s former teammate, Holden Cattoni. However, the game would only stay tied for another 19 seconds, as Ryan Lanchbury snuck a shot past Nick Damude to give the Knighthawks their lead back. McConvey scored on an and one take to the net with 3:49 left in the half before Blaze Riorden got on the board for his first of the game to get back within one, but it would be Rochester finishing the half with one more tally, as a blocked shot off the stick of Josh Medeiros led to Ethan O’Connor rebounding the shot and sending an outlet pass up to Matt Gilray who scored on a sweeping shot in transition in the final minute of the half to set the score to 9-7 in favor of the visitors.

The third quarter started the same way as the second quarter, as Thomas McConvey swam to the net and sent a shot to the far corner to make it 10-7, and then minutes later, it was Kyle Waters getting his first goal of the game with a crashing of the net to put home a rebound. While the Wings killed off a penalty despite a lot of Knighthawks chances on the two minutes and scored on their first possession after the game returned to 5-on-5 courtesy of a short side laser from Joe Resetarits, the Knighthawks continued to control the game across the rest of the quarter. A shorthanded goal from Curtis Knight with 3:18 left in the frame pushed the Rochester lead up to 4, and then in the closing seconds of the third quarter, Connor Fields got his second goal of the game to make it 13-8 after 3. The frame was Hartley’s strongest, making 9 saves and showing his most comfort of the game to that point.

While the Wings had their chances to get back in the game in the fourth quarter, it would be their unforced errors that prevented them from truly getting back in the game. Joe Resetarits opened the scoring in the quarter with his 4th goal of the game 2:47 in to cut it back to 4, but a hooking penalty put Rochester on the man advantage, where they immediately capitalized courtesy of Ryan Smith. A metaphorical two goal swing came next, as Ryan Lanchbury had a goal come off the board on a successful crease challenge from Ian Rubel, followed immediately by Blaze Riorden’s second goal of the game. However once again, the Wings headed back to the box, this time on the ensuing loose ball scrum off the faceoff, and it was Smith again from the righty shooter spot to make it 15-10 with 7:21 to play. Resetarits’s fifth came on the next Philadelphia possession, and while Phil Caputo got open on a 6-on-5 possession with 2:29 left to cut the deficit to 3, that was all they could muster, as the Knighthawks extra man defense stepped up with a couple saves from Hartley as well to finish with the team’s first win at Wells Fargo Center.

With the Knighthawks outshooting the Wings 93-67, 63-44 on goal, it wasn’t the busiest night for Rylan Hartley, but his 32 saves were a good return to the starting role, showcasing his famous splits and active goaltending and rebounding. Connor Fields led the way again with 2 goals and 9 assists, while Ryan Lanchbury added 2 goals and 8 assists as the pairing continues to pace themselves towards the top of the league points leaderboard. They also each added double digit loose balls, with 13 from Fields and 10 from Lanchbury. Ryan Smith had 3 goals and 3 assists to pace himself in the goal leaderboard as well. Thomas McConvey added 3 goals and an assist.

For the Wings, Joe Resetarits was fantastic despite the loss with 5 goals and 5 assists. Mitch Jones and Holden Cattoni combined for a goal each and 10 total assists, while Blaze Riorden and Phil Caputo each had 2 goals. Nick Damude finished with 46 saves in the loss. A 5-3 record keeps the Wings tied for third in the league through 10 weeks.

Week 10 Around The League

Halifax Thunderbirds 10 – Vancouver Warriors 9

The Thunderbirds are at their best when their transition game is firing, and with 3 goals and 2 assists from Ryan Terefenko and a goal from Jake Withers, the transition game is what carried them to a home win over the Warriors. The forwards were led by the trio of Clarke Petterson (2G 1A), Mike Robinson (1G 2A), and Randy Staats (3A) picking up 3 points. While Warren Hill only had to make 29 saves in the win, the defense in front of him limited Vancouver to 38 shots on goal compared to 54 from Halifax. Adam Charalambides had a goal and 5 assists to lead the Warriors.

Calgary Roughnecks 11 – Ottawa Black Bears 8

Ottawa was able to double their goal total from the previous week, but that was only from 4 to 8, and the Roughnecks won wire to wire in their first trip to Ottawa. Jesse King’s 3 goals and 3 assists and Tyler Pace’s 4 goals and 2 assists led Calgary’s offense, with Curtis Dickson adding 2 goals and 3 assists. Their defense held Jeff Teat scoreless and 3 assists. Jacob Dunbar had 3 goals and an assist to pace the offense while Eric Fannell 4 assists and Taggart Clark had 2 goals.

Toronto Rock 9 – Colorado Mammoth 8 F/OT

Hope ya didn’t blink. Just like that the Rock are back to 3-5, as they erased an 8-6 fourth quarter deficit for force overtime and then got the game winner from Josh Dawick, who led Toronto with 4 goals on the night. Tom Schreiber and Dan Craig each had a goal and 3 assists. with Nick Rose making 14 of his 39 saves in the fourth quarter and overtime to seal the win. A 19/20 night at the dot from TD Ierlan, who also scored, led the Rock to 100 loose balls, and an outshooting of the Mammoth 66-47 on goal. Dillon Ward finished with 57 saves despite the loss, and Ryan Lee had 3 goals and 3 assists.

Georgia Swarm 16 – Las Vegas Desert Dogs 14

Toron Eccleston broke out for 4 goals and 4 assists, as the Swarm snapped their losing streak on the road in Henderson with a high scoring 16-14 affair. Miles Thompson had 3 goals and 3 assists for his highest scoring point effort since a 7 point game on April 15, 2017. Shayne Jackson, Lyle Thompson, and Brendan Bomberry combined for 3 goals and 12 assists. Jack Hannah led the Desert Dogs with 3 goals and 5 assists.

Saskatchewan Rush 12 – San Diego Seals 8

The Rush stormed out to a 7-0 first half lead, and while the Seals responded with 5 goals in the third quarter, they were unable to get back closer than 4 as they dropped their third game in a row. Robert Church and Zach Manns had 2 goals and 6 assists each, with Mike Triolo burying 4 goals and Ryan Keenan adding a goal and 5 assists. Thomas Kiazkyk got his second straight win with 36 saves, including 19 in the first half shutout. Zach Currier, Tre Leclaire, and Trent DiCicco each had 3 points to lead the Seals.

Week 11 Preview

While the Knighthawks get their first bye week of the season, the Bandits are about to have their final of the season before 12 games in 10 weeks. In the meantime, 8 NLL teams are in action, all of which have between 3 and 5 wins in a very contested unified standings.

Friday February 7

Colorado Mammoth (5-4) @ Georgia Swarm (5-3), 7:30 pm

Two scrappy well-coached teams look for their 6th win of the season, as the Swarm will welcome back a more full building than their storm-interfered previous home game a few weeks back. The Swarm won the first matchup of the season 13-12 back on December 29.

Calgary Roughnecks (4-3) @ Vancouver Warriors (4-4), 10:00 pm

After the Warriors won the first matchup on December 28, they will look to protect their undefeated record at Rogers Arena against the rival Roughnecks, who are 3-1 on the road.

Saturday February 8

Halifax Thunderbirds (3-4) @ Philadelphia Wings (5-3), 1:00 pm

A win could place the Thunderbirds back at .500 after an 0-3 start, but the high-powered Wings offense is looking to keep their strong start going and bounce back from last week’s home loss on the eve of an Eagles Super Bowl appearance. Both matchups last season went to overtime, with the road team winning each with a combined 30 goals for each team.

San Diego Seals (3-5) @ Toronto Rock (3-5), 7:00 pm

Last year’s top two seeds are not having the starts to the regular season that they were hoping for, especially with some durability issues to some of their best players, but there’s no time for excuses as both teams need a win to keep unified standings pace. Toronto has won all 4 all time matchups with the Seals, including a 15-13 win in San Diego last season.

(Photo Credit: Buffalo Bandits)