Buffalo Bandits 18 – Ottawa Black Bears 7

As he did in Ottawa’s season opener, Jacob Dunbar got the Black Bears out to a 1-0 lead early in the first quarter, but that would be the lone lead for the Black Bears on the night. Chris Cloutier tied the game running hard off the bench and getting led by Dhane Smith to the net, and then after the Bandits killed a penalty, Ian MacKay picked up a rebound behind the net and dunked for a 2-1 Bandit lead. A Bandit powerplay late in the first led to Josh Byrne’s first goal of the game on a bouncer through the legs of Zach Higgins, and then on the final possession of the quarter at 6-on-5, Smith sent a quick stick to MacKay for his second goal of the quarter on the way to a 4-1 lead after the first.

The first isolation Josh Byrne to Chris Cloutier pick-and-roll of the season gave Buffalo a 5-1 lead on their first possession of the new quarter, and then the defense picked up two big penalty kills to move the game into the middle of the quarter, but an intercepted pass by Ron John led to him ending the Bandit run to get Ottawa their first goal in 20 minutes. Getting back on the scoreboard was Ian MacKay in transition to make it 6-2 before Jeff Teat got his first goal of the game with 5:19 left in the quarter, but a powerplay goal from Chase Fraser on a back door pass from Byrne kicked off a stretch of three more goals from the Bandits to close out the half, with Dhane Smith scoring from midrange and Nick Weiss adding a goal in transition for a 9-3 Bandit lead at the half.

Kyle Buchanan entered his office on the first possession of the game for an open shot point blank for his first goal in his hometown as a pro 1:16 into the quarter to make it 10-3. Jeff Teat had another run-stopping goal with 10:29 left in the quarter, but the next run was courtesy of number 4, as Ian MacKay got a pass from Chase Fraser for a dunk 1:17 later, and then less than two minutes after that, Buchanan fed MacKay in transition for his fifth goal of the game, this time with the help of a challenge from John Tavares to confirm that no Bandit feed found themselves in the crease before the goal cross the line. The Black Bears had their best stretch of the night to finish out the third quarter, as Jacob Dunbar scored on the powerplay and Teat picked a corner for his third goal of the game to make it 12-6.

The Ottawa run continued into the fourth quarter, as another powerplay for the home team led to a goal from Larson Sundown on a tic-tac-toe sequence, but from there, it was lights out for the rest of the night, and the Bandits decided it would be fun if they had a second straight week with a dagger fourth quarter run and shared the wealth along the way with consecutive different goal scorers. It took a bit to get rolling, but 5:37 after the Sundown goal and 14:06 since their last goal, Chase Fraser got his second of the game. After a faceoff win, Kyle Buchanan slipped on his way to the net but still managed to score. With just under 6 to play, Chris Cloutier drop stepped his way to an open lane where he gave the Bandits their 15th goal of the game, and then Josh Byrne scored two possessions later from outside. Dhane Smith scored on the powerplay, and Tehoka Nanticoke added his first goal of the game after Ian MacKay prevented the Black Bears from a defensive rebound opportunity for an unsettled cherry on top goal with 1:48 left, and the Bandits improved to 2-0 with an 18-7 road win.

The top of the scoresheet looked as it usually does, as Josh Byrne had 2 goals and 8 assists, and Dhane Smith had 2 goals and 7 assists. The big winner of the night of course was the 5 goal on 6 shot on goal performance from Ian MacKay, a new career high for him for goals in a game. Chris Cloutier also had a hat trick. Matt Vinc made 32 saves in 55 minutes (.829 SV%) before Steven Orleman finished the final 4:47 with 5 saves of his own. For Ottawa, who fell to 1-1, Jeff Teat led the way with 3 goals and 2 assists.

While on another bye week in week 4, the Bandits return home on the 28th to raise their second straight championship banner against Rochester, who had a less fortunate week 3 than their neighbors to the West.

Vancouver Warriors 10 – Rochester Knighthawks 7

Like the traffic-delays of the Friday night commute into and out of downtown Vancouver, the offenses took awhile to feel each other out, but it was the Knighthawks penalty kill opening the scoring in transition 3:42 in courtesy of the first as a Knighthawk from Josh Medeiros. It took until the middle of the first quarter for a forward group to get on the board, with Keegan Bal picking up a loose ball off an errant pass and sending a laser to the top right of the net to tie the game at 1, which the score would remain after the opening 15. The two teams combined for 30 shots on goal but all but 2 were turned aside by Riley Hutchcraft and Aden Walsh.

With the man advantage to start the second, the Knighthawks scored on the opening possession with a goal from Ryan Smith into the same corner as the shot from Bal. After a forced turnover from the defense, Ryan Lanchbury got some space to shoot from the midrange after a screen from Smith and his shot extended the Knighthawks lead to 2 with 11:56 left in the half. Rochester looked to have scored on the possession afterwards, but Connor Fields was found to have his foot drag along the crease as he was beating Walsh on a drive to the net. A second goal from Bal put the Warriors back within 1 minutes later, but Lanchbury’s second on a similar play to his first a couple minutes after that made it 4-2. In the final 7 and a half minutes, the defenses once again showed the top of their games, highlighted by a cross-crease save from Walsh on Thomas McConvey to start a late Knighthawks powerplay.

An illegal substitution on Rochester at the end of the half gave Vancouver a powerplay to start the second half, where fourth overall pick in this past draft, Jonathan Peshko, scored on the run just before the show clock expired for his first NLL goal. A high-to-low goal from Ryan Smith on a Knighthawk powerplay made it 5-3, but a fortunate bounce after Kevin Crowley deflected a Taylor Jensen pass led to Crowley kicking the ball forward to Owen Grant forward just enough to propel him to a breakaway where he put a shot off the post and in for a goal. An unfortunate delay of game penalty on Connor Fields, who poked at a ball laying in the crease a little too close to Aden Walsh after he was stopped in front by the young netminder, put the Warriors back on the powerplay where they wasted no time with another far side rip from Keegan Bal tied the game back up at 5. An outside sweep from Ryan Lanchbury gave him a hat trick to give Rochester the lead on what would be the only 5-on-5 goal of the quarter (and what would be Rochester’s final of the game). A boarding call on Graydon Hogg led to a goal shot from Kevin Crowley tying the game back up at 6. A holding penalty on Ryan Dilks gave the Knighthawks a powerplay after the next possession, but Jeff Cornwall gave Vancouver the lead in transition. Smith rebounded a Lanchbury miss to make it 7-7 on the same powerplay. And as the quarter began, it ended with Peshko scoring again, this time beating Brandon Slade baseline to get open net front for a tiebreaking goal with 43 seconds to play in the quarter.

The title of the post alluded to what was coming next, Ryan Smith found Connor Fields backdoor but he was denied by Aden Walsh, and then back the other way, Jackson Suboch sent an outlet pass to Reid Bowering, who finished short side before the Knighthawks defense could catch him, giving the Warriors their largest of the night. After killing a penalty, the Knighthawks went on a powerplay of their own, but a 6 shot man advantage led to zero goals, including a point shot from Fields nearly trickling past Walsh before he fell on the ball to ensure it stayed out. Minutes later, Thomas McConvey got to the net for a clear look, but Walsh made another big stop, and then the defense took a penalty on the next possession to take away more chances to work towards getting even, now with under 5 minutes left to play. A holding penalty on Chad Tutton in the final two minutes made the quest to get back in the game even harder, and after Jeff Cornwall put his second of the game in the empty net with 3 seconds to play, the Warriors had themselves a 10-7 win in their home opener.

Keegan Bal’s hat trick led the way for the Warriors, while Ryan Martel had 4 assists. 15 saves in the first and 13 in the fourth bookended an impressive 43 save performance for Aden Walsh in his first win of the new season. Vancouver also found themselves in a rare occurrence of outshooting the shot-heavy Knighthawks, edging them 81-71 on all shots, and 56-50 on goal.

On the other side, a 1-2 record is a tough place for the Knighthawks to find themselves after the fantastic opening win, and a second straight week with 7 goals has to be an extra frustrating wrinkle in itself. Ryans Smith and Lanchbury each had 3 goals, but that was it for the Rochester forwards. Thomas McConvey had 3 assists, but all 8 of his shots on goal were saved, and despite 2 assists, Connor Fields was held without a goal for the first time as a Knighthawk, with his last goalless game coming in Game 2 of the 2022 NLL Finals. The back-to-back 2 point results are the second and third time he has been limited to that marker, with the other time coming all the way back in January of 2023. Turner Evans and Graydon Hogg each had a single assist to round out the scoreless game from the left side of the Knighthawks offense. On the brighter side, Riley Hutchcraft made 46 saves despite the loss. While Rylan Hartley’s status remains game-to-game, if Hutchcraft can continue to put up “starter numbers”, it will certainly help to soften the blow, but the offense has little time to waste to get back on the right track, with their first bye week of the season still not coming until week 11, and their next three games coming against teams out to a 2-0 start.

Week 3 Around The League

San Diego Seals 14 – Colorado Mammoth 11

A 7-2 second quarter proved to be the difference as the Seals protected their home floor against the Mammoth in the third game of the Friday night slate. Wes Berg led the Seals with 4 goals and 3 assists, while Rob Hellyer continued his new team bump in production with 2 goals and 3 assists. Kyle Jackson had 3 goals and an assist in his first game of the season. For Colorado, Connor Robinson had 3 goals and 3 assists to lead the way while 5 other Mammoth forwards had 4 points.

Philadelphia Wings 19 – Las Vegas Desert Dogs 10

The Wings followed up their strong offensive performance in week 1 with another one in their return to their home floor with a 19-10 win. Joe Resetarits with 3 goals and 8 assists and Holden Cattoni with a goal and 9 assists led the way with double digit point totals. The left side was clicking, with Mitch Jones adding 3 goals and 5 assists, Blaze Riorden adding 4 goals and 2 assists, Brennan O’Neill adding 4 goals and an assist. For Vegas, who dropped to 0-3, Casey Jackson had 2 goals and 3 assists, and Jonathan Donville had a goal and 3 assists, while Adam Poitras also added 2 goals and 2 assists.

And then, things went wild

Calgary Roughnecks 13 – Albany FireWolves 12 F/OT

Albany got out to a good start, leading 5-2 after the first and holding onto the lead, extending it to 4 9 seconds into the fourth quarter with a short handed goal from Will Johansen. And then this happened.

Tye Kurtz responded with his third goal of the game, but Dobbie cancelled it out with his 6th of the quarter. After Dyson Williams responded with another go ahead go for the FireWolves, an outlet pass from Cam MacLeod fed a sprinting Dobbie off the bench for a breakaway to nod the game back up at 12, forcing overtime. And there, a cutting Dobbie got a pass from Curtis Dickson to beat Doug Jamieson for the EIGHTH time for the Roughnecks win.

The seven goals Dobbie scored in the 4th quarter broke a record for goals in a quarter (Adam Jones and Zack Greer each had 6 in a quarter in 2016), and when you add in the game winner, as discovered by Graeme Perrow:

The previous record for fastest 8 goals was 30 minutes and 31 seconds, by Callum Crawford in January 2024. Dane Dobbie scored 8 in 15 minutes and 16 seconds. Almost EXACTLY half of Crawford’s time.

Four of Dobbie’s goals were assisted by Jesse King, who finished the game with 7 assists total. Tyler Pace had 5 assists in his season debut, while Curtis Dickson and Tanner Cook each had 2 goals and combined for 7 assists. For Albany, Ethan Walker and Tye Kurtz each had 3 goals and 3 assists, while Alex Simmons matched the point total with 6 assists.

Georgia Swarm 10 – Toronto Rock 9

Lyle Thompson’s goal with a minute to play broke a 9-9 tie and gave the Swarm a second late game victory, this time over the Rock, overcoming some controversy along the way (read more about the Aaron Woods goal that was called back from Ty Merrow here, and while you’re there, scroll through his depth charts and possession metric tracking). Thompson had 3 goals and 2 assists on the night, while Andrew Kew had 3 goals and 3 assists. Brett Dobson had 46 saves in the win. For Toronto, who is now 0-3, Chris Boushy had a hat trick, Josh Dawick had a goal and 2 assists, and Mark Matthews had 3 assists.

Saskatchewan Rush 9 – Halifax Thunderbirds 8 F/OT

A Dane Dobbie-lite performance took place in the prairies about an hour later, as the Rush fought back from being down 7-2 with 5 straight goals from Zach Manns to get back within 1 (Mike Robinson mixed a goal in for Halifax). Levi Anderson tied the game 21 seconds later, and then in overtime, it was Manns again picking up the game winner, finishing with 6 goals and 2 assists. 39 saves from Frank Scigliano outdueled 41 from Warren Hill, and Jake Naso did something that has only been done 5 other times since the start of the 2017-18 season: He beat Jake Withers at the dot more than he lost, by a 12-9 result. Some of that was courtesy of the work of Jake Boudreau, who finished the game with 21 credited loose balls. Dawson Theede’s 4 goals and 2 assists were what led the Thunderbirds to that initial lead in the game.

Week 4 Preview

Only four games going into the holidays but still some big matchups to fill the stomach with an appetizer of good lacrosse.

Friday December 20

Philadelphia Wings (1-1) @ Las Vegas Desert Dogs (0-3) – 10:30 pm

The home and home finishes in Henderson as the Wings will look to continue their offense’s strong December while the Desert Dogs hope to prevent an 0-4 start to the season before the calendar even flips to 2025.

Saturday December 21

Saskatchewan Rush (2-0) @ Rochester Knighthawks (1-2) – 7:00 pm

The Knighthawks won last season’s matchup 16-14 in week 2 in Saskatoon, and a similar result would be really beneficial going into the holiday against a Rush team who has played two good defensive games to start their season, albeit both games going to overtime. It’s the Rush’s first trip to Saskatchewan since June 2, 2018, which was Game 2 of the 2018 NLL Finals. The last win in Rochester was February 11, 2017.

Halifax Thunderbirds (0-2) @ Colorado Mammoth (1-1) – 9:00 pm

Two one goal losses have the Thunderbirds staring at 0-3 for the first time since 2013 in their former home, but the Mammoth and their Ball Arena magic are ready to make that happen after the Thunderbirds beat them in Halifax last season. It’s the first time the Thunderbirds are heading to Denver, with the last “Oldhawks” trip to play in Denver coming in an overtime win on April 12, 2019.

Georgia Swarm (2-0) @ San Diego Seals (2-1) – 10:00 pm

Another head-to-head matchup finishing up in December, the Seals will look to get revenge on the Swarm, who gave them their lone loss of the season with an Andrew Kew overtime winner. It was overtime where the Seals got a win in the lone other head-to-head matchup at Pechanga Arena between the Seals and Swarm, a Wes Berg winner on February 23, 2024.

(Photo Credit: National Lacrosse League)