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Another Second Half Surge Propels The Bandits To A Win In Halifax | Rock Outlast Knighthawks In Defensive Showdown

by Eddy Tabone - 0

Buffalo Bandits 10 – Halifax Thunderbirds 9

They have gone on record saying they don’t know why they have been starting slow lately, but at 10-2, the Bandits are taking what they can get if it means that they will continue to sit atop the NLL East.

Ian MacKay started the game by ensuring that the Bandits at least start hot, as he registered a natural first-quarter hat trick to put the Bandits up 3-0, but the offense dropped off in the second, parallel to the Thunderbirds offense heating up. Austin Shanks broke the scoring drought about 3 minutes into the quarter before Ryan Benesch capitalized on two Bandit penalties to register his 499th and 500th goals, the 6th player to do so in league history. Shanks fed Chris Boushy on a cut to the net with 2:03 to play in the half to give the Thunderbirds their first lead of the game. Buffalo scored in the final minute, as Nick Weiss stayed on with the set offense, being matchup up with Cody Jamieson and winning the footrace on a post up, to tie the game, but Tyson Bell scored 13 seconds later off the ensuing faceoff to set the score at 5-4 Halifax after 30.

The Bandits’ transition offense helped them take the lead back in the third thanks to Weiss’s second goal of the game and then Dylan Robinson capitalizing on a net-front rebound off of a Bryce Sweeting shot that was stopped by Warren Hill. Halifax climbed back with the next three goals, courtesy of Benesch, Randy Staats, and Jamieson to make it 8-6 with 6:47 to play.

Still, injury-depleted, struggling on a Friday Night road trip, if the Bandits were going to forge a comeback, there was one player who was going to lead them out of it offensively, and need anyone to be surprised at this point who it was? Dhane Smith scored back-to-back goals to finish the quarter and tie the game at 8 to finish the quarter. Buffalo took the lead back with a behind-the-back dart from Tehoka Nanticoke that when added to Smith’s third goal of the game about a minute later to make it 10-8 Bandits. Randy Staats scored to make it 10-9 with 5 minutes left, but that was it for the Thunderbirds, as Matt Vinc made his final cluster of saves to reach 43 on the night and secure the road win for the Bandits.

Ian MacKay matched Dhane Smith’s 3 goals and 2 points on the night as they led the Bandits in scoring. Max Adler was the unsung hero of the night Randy Staats also had 5 points to lead the Thunderbirds, with 2 goals and 3 assists, and Ryan Benesch added an assist to his history-making hat trick to finish with 4 points. Warren Hill had 41 saves in the loss.

The two teams will be running it back tonight for another Friday Night matchup, this time however at KeyBank Center.

Toronto Rock 9 – Rochester Knighthawks 8

Like the first matchup of the season between the Rock and Knighthawks, this one was another defensive showcase, but it was the Rock coming out on top this time. The teams exchanged two goals each in the first quarter, starting with Brad Gillies opening the scoring just as he closed it in the previous game with the OT winner against the Riptide. On Dan Craig’s goal to open scoring for the Rock, Dan Dawson’s assist was the 1500th point of his career as he continues to pad his spot at second on the all-time points list in the league. Thomas Hoggarth and Tom Schreiber got on the board to finish out the first. In the second, Turner Evans and Holden Cattoni gave the Knighthawks the first two-goal lead of the game, but Corey Small’s goal with 1:17 left brought it back to within 1 at the half.

As the third quarter started, it was the Rock capitalizing on the first costly mistake of the game. Rylan Hartley went to the bench as the Knighthawks appeared to believe a delayed penalty was coming, but Toronto was able to go back the other way and Sheldon Burns scored on the empty net to tie the game at 4. Rochester was able to erase the error with a three-goal run courtesy of Holden Cattoni, Ryan Smith, and Connor Fields to go up 7-4, but as he did in the second quarter, Small scored in the closing minutes of the quarter on a powerplay.

In the fourth, Toronto’s strong transition game took over to complete the comeback. The Rock won the opening faceoff and Tom Schreiber fed Zach Manns with a, well, Schreiberian (Thanks Joe Keegan) pass and Manns finished the playoff to make it 7-6. Phil Mazzuca’s first NLL goal made it 7-7, and then Dan Craig gave the Rock the lead. A Corey Small penalty allowed the Knighthawks to tie the game at 8 thanks to Connor Fields, but that was erased minutes later by Brandon Slade, who burned past Matt Gilray on a head fake and went for a crease dive to give the Rock the lead that they would not relinquish, as their league-leading defense forced 4 turnovers in 5 possessions following the goal, and the Knighthawks best opportunity of the rest of the game from Ryan Smith rung off the crossbar, and his own rebound was stopped by the shoulder of Nick Rose.

Tom Schreiber led the Rock with a goal and three assists, while Corey Small and Dan Craig finished with 2 goals and an assist, and Stephen Keogh had 3 assists. For the Knighthawks, after Gillies’s opening goal, Connor Fields had a point on the remaining 7 goals to finish with 2 goals and 5 assists. Holden Cattoni had 2 goals and an assist, while Curtis Knight had 3 assists. Both goalies were on their A-game once again, Rylan Hartley set his new career high in saves with 56, while Nick Rose made 46 of his own. Victor-native TD Ierlan made his presence known with 19 faceoff wins on 21 draws and picked up 20 total loose balls.

Rochester falls to 8-3 but remains in third in the East. Toronto improved to 9-2 but was not done on the long weekend.

NLL Week 14 Around The League

Philadelphia Wings 19 – New York Riptide 12

Whatever pregame breakfast the Wings had worked out well for them, as they were the victors in the 11:30 AM affair at Wells Fargo Center. Head Coach Paul Day mentioned in his mid-game interview with Devan Kaney that the team aims for 4 goals each quarter, and they finished one goal short of averaging 5 per 15 minutes. Mitch Jones continues to look comfortable in his new uniform, with 6 goals and 8 assists to lead Philadelphia. Joe Resetarits and Ben McIntosh weren’t too shabby either, as they each had 4 goals, with Joey Res registering 5 assists and Benny Mac chipping in with 4. Despite being limited to a single goal, Jeff Teat was still able to put up 8 assists. Connor Kearnan had 4 goals and an assist and dropped the gloves with Ian Llord in the final minute after things had been chippy throughout the fourth quarter.

San Diego Seals 15 – Las Vegas 12

As the league took the game outside for the first time at SnapDragon Stadium in San Diego, the steady Seals once again paced their way to victory to improve to 7-2, using a 5-0 run after trailing 10-9 to put the game away. Curtis Dickson led the Seals with 3 goals and 6 assists. Dane Dobbie had 3 goals and an assist, as he also finds himself on the precipice of 500 goals with 499 after Saturday’s game. Frank Scigliano made 30 saves in relief of Chris Origlieri, who was pulled after letting 4 of the first 6 shots he faced in. For Vegas, now at 4-6, Rob Hellyer (1G 4A), Jack Hannah (2G 3A), and Zack Greer (2G 3A) each had 5 points.

Georgia Swarm 9 – Albany FireWolves 8 F/OT

It was a much closer result than last week’s 20-4 blowout from Georgia, but Georgia was still able to outshoot the FireWolves 62-47. Lyle Thompson and Shayne Jackson erased an 8-6 deficit in the fourth quarter, tying the game with 7:11 to play. The Swarm won the opening faceoff of overtime, and Lyle did what he does best, burying the game-winner to finish up with a game-high 3 goals and 4 assists. Brendan Bomberry added a goal and 3 assists, while Brett Dobson made 40 saves for Georgia’s second straight win. Doug Jamieson kept it close for Albany with 52 saves in his return to the starting lineup after Justin Geddie got the start the week prior (Jamieson has been nursing an ailment on and off for much of the season). Connor Kelly had 3 goals and 2 assists to lead Albany, while Haina Thompson matched that point total with assists.

Panther City Lacrosse Club 16 – Saskatchewan Rush 10

A 7-1 run in the fourth quarter blew this game wide open, as Panther City ended up rolling to a win to move into third place in the West, matching San Diego and Calgary’s 7 wins. It was a 15-point combination for Will Malcom (5G 3A) and Jonathan Donville (2G 5A) to lead the way once again for the Texas-flag-jersey-wearing home team, while Callum Crawford continued to look comfortable with 2 goals and 3 assists. Mark Matthews had a goal and 7 assists, and Robert Church had 4 goals and 3 assists for the Rush.

Philadelphia Wings 11 – Toronto Rock 10

One win this weekend would have been big for the Wings this weekend to stay in the mix with the Thunderbirds and the clogged middle of the West for playoff contention, but two wins to get back to .500 would be massive. Zach Higgins ensured the massive. The Monday Night showdown mirrored the Rock-Knighthawks game on the scoreboard, as the Wings led 7-4 at the half and then scored first to open the 4th, and then Toronto made a 4-goal run in the middle of the final frame to even the game up at 9, but Blaze Riorden and Ben McIntosh had answers to extend the lead back to 2. Tom Schreiber scored with 51 seconds left to cut the deficit, but they would not solve Zach Higgins again on the night, and boy did they need him.

If there was ever an instance of being goalie-d, it was this game for the Rock, as they outshot Philly 65-32 despite the 1-goal loss. 55 saves when all was said and done from Higgins earned him Player of the Week honors for the league. Mitch Jones had another 2 goals and 5 assists, and Joe Resetarits had a goal and 6 assists to lead the Wings’ offense. Dan Craig and Tom Schreiber each had 6 points, with Craig scoring 4 times.

With the game in hand, the Wings move ahead of the Thunderbirds for the fourth spot in the East, with their March 25 matchup in Philadelphia looking all that much bigger as we get closer.

NLL Week 15 Preview

Friday, March 10

Halifax Thunderbirds (5-6) vs Buffalo Bandits (9-2) – 7:30 pm

Banditland takes to the beach to continue to defend the top spot in the East, while the Thunderbirds aim to return to .500 and avoid the season sweep at the hands of the Bandits. There is no word yet on the statuses of Josh Byrne or Chase Fraser, and of course, the question will be asked: Will the Bandits allow fewer goals than the Sabres did against Dallas?

Calgary Roughnecks (7-4) vs Colorado Mammoth (5-5) – 9:00 pm – Both teams return to action coming off of a bye in the rubber match of the season series.

Saturday, March 11

Albany FireWolves (2-8) vs Toronto Rock (9-3) – 7:00 pm (TSN Game of the Week) – Toronto returns home after the tough loss in Philly for their first of two matchups with the FireWolves

Philadelphia Wings (5-5) vs New York Riptide (2-9) – 7:30 pm – The Riptide start their final homestand of the season hoping to rise out of last in the East, while the Wings look to go back above .500 for the first time since week 3.

San Diego Seals (7-2) vs Saskatchewan Rush (5-5) – 9:30 pm – Another rubber match in this week’s slate of games, as the Rush will host the first-place Seals and aim to keep hold of a playoff spot.

Vancouver Warriors (2-9) vs Las Vegas Desert Dogs (4-6) – 10:30 pm – It’s once again a battle of the bottom two teams in the West, but the Desert Dogs now find themselves looking to stay in the playoff mix

Sunday, March 12

Rochester Knighthawks (8-3) vs Georgia Swarm (2-7) – 4:00 pm

The string of back-to-back wins has elevated the Swarm from last to 6th in the East, but they will be facing a Knighthawks team hungry for their first road win since their last Sunday game on January 15th. This will be the second of three meetings, as Georgia will come to Rochester on April 22.

Photo Credit: Trevor MacMillan / Halifax Thunderbirds
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