(Photo Credit: Bandits Socials)

Energy wasn’t going to be a question with a Banditland sellout, but maybe a little too much from Chase Fraser led to a penalty on an illegal screen on the first Bandits possession after Connor Farrell controlled the opening faceoff. Paul Dawson blocked the best opportunity of the powerplay, and then a shot clock violation forced by the Bandits PK unit was rewarded with a Kyle Buchanan shorthanded goal 1:58 into the game, cutting hard to the net and flipping in a backhand. Albany was able to get on the board with a transition goal from Patrick Kaschalk with 10:06 to go in the opening quarter. After an illegal screen about halfway through the quarter called on Albany, Buffalo capitalized for their second goal of the game on a bench seal from Dhane Smith, and then on their next possession, Josh Byrne fed a slipping Brandon Robinson to go up 3-1, the first two goal lead of the night a lot quicker than in Game 1.

Coincidental minors put the game at 4-on-4, and the extra space nearly led to a goal from Ian MacKay but Nick Weiss was in the process of running through the crease. An illegal body check from Tye Kurtz made it 4-on-3, and Buffalo scored right away courtesy of Tehoka Nanticoke, extending the lead to 3. Alex Simmons made it 4-2 with 3:55 left in the quarter with the game back at 4-on-4. Too quick of substituting put the Bandits back shorthanded with a too many men penalty to end the quarter, and with 2.4 seconds left on the clock, Sam Firth finished the crease-wide pass from Kurtz to get it back to a one goal game after 15 minutes. 10 minutes of penalties were handed out in the first quarter after 8 total last night.

Tehoka Nanticoke opened up the second quarter with his second goal, getting an iso look and spinning off Anthony Joaquim for the open look. Defense to offense put the Bandits back up 3, as a turnover led to a Steve Priolo loose ball and an outlet pass to Chase Fraser who finished a transition bouncer. Then less than a minute later, Chris Cloutier snuck around behind the net and waited for a chance to tiptoe out in front, receive a pass from Josh Byrne, and flip in the backhand for the extra point to make it 7-3. The Bandits then won the ensuing faceoff and Fraser rebounded a stopped Byrne shot subtly underhand to make it 8-3 30 seconds later. Albany was able to calm the storm with a crease dive from Alex Simmons that was ruled in after a successful challenge from Glenn Clark, but Cloutier had a second goal up his sleeve on a roll and a dish from Dhane Smith. Sam Firth’s second goal prevented another Bandits run, and then after the first extended period of no goals of the game, Firth picked up the hat trick with a bouncer from deep with 2:11 to go in the half. Once again Albany finished out the quarter with a last possession goal as Travis Longboat buried his first of the game with half a second left on the clock, setting the score at 9-7 Bandits at the half. For those keeping track of the penalties after the first, there were no infractions called in the second.

It was Travis Longboat opening scoring in the second half as well as he got to the net isolated for the crease dive to make it 9-8 2:32 in, but a drive to the net of his own from Dhane Smith put the Bandits into double digits 1:20 later. Just over 5 minutes in, Chris Cloutier slammed a shot off the post, but the long rebound gave the Bandits a second possession which gave Chase Fraser the look to finish off the hat trick, and then it was Chase again with a swim move on Jackson Nishimura to get to the net for a crease dive. Just like that it was back to a four goal game after Albany had cut it to 1, fittingly 7:16 into the quarter. After Smith and Leo Stouros were sent off for coincidental minors, Josh Byrne was able to get in on the scoring after 8 assists, and then after Connor Farrell was stopped on a shot attempt off the faceoff nearly blew the roof off in its final sporting event (I think) before being replaced, the Bandits pulled out the hidden ball trick with Byrne and Fraser, giving Chase his 5th goal of the game. He wouldn’t be able to score in the next two minutes after a little bit of extra-cirriculars celebrating, but with the lead back up to 6, the margin for error had widened even since Smith had gone to the box, and that 14-8 margin would be the score after 3 quarters.

The party was on in the soldout crowd from there, but Sam Firth had another goal in his pocket 1:03 into the quarter. A Bandits powerplay once again halted any thought of a comeback, and a string of three back-and-forth passes from Bryne to Cloutier to Smith to Brandon Robinson made it 15-9 with 12:05 to go, albeit only to be cancelled out by a third goal from Travis Longboat with a lot of traffic in front of the net and then another crease diving goal from Alex Simmons making it 15-11. A frustration call on Simmons with 4:36 to play gave the Bandits a powerplay late but the clock was more important at that point than scoring, albeit Dhane Smith did nearly score on a breakaway towards the end of the man advantage despite being stopped by Doug Jamieson. Nate Grenon challenged Zack Belter after a hard hit on Sam Firth in the corner, leading to the Wheatfield-born Belter taking him to the ground with a couple of punches. The hit gave Belter the extra 2 and one final powerplay for the FireWolves.

Tye Kurtz buried a broken play to make it 15-12 with 2:39 to play, but their next possession was a shot clock violation after a clean blocked shot from Paul Dawson. They got the ball right back from a turnover caused by Anthony Joaquim, but a pair of saves from Matt Vinc and then a clock-killing possession from the Bandits brought the game to 1:07 to go. Glenn Clark called timeout, but a wide shot from Simmons and a bobbled rebound made it over-and-back and Bandits ball. John Tavares called timeout with 47.6 on the clock. Keep away dropped the clock under 30 seconds, and Albany went back the other way, where Sam Firth finished off a quick stick from Simmons with 7.5 seconds to go for his 5th of the game to make it 15-13, but Simmons was denied by Matt Vinc for the final shot of the game, as Ian MacKay got the defensive rebound and let the horn sound. The Buffalo Bandits had officially gone back-to-back.

Championship #6 officially ties them with the Toronto Rock and original Philadelphia Wings for the most championships in league history and gives them back-to-back titles for the second time in franchise history, paired with 1992 and 1993. It’s the first back-to-back champions since the Edmonton and then Saskatchewan Rush did it in 2015 and 2016. Conveniently enough, the Wings and Rock also have gone back-to-back twice. It’s almost fitting that the three at the top share that in common.

Josh Byrne was given finals MVP after adding a goal and 8 assists to his 3 goals and 4 assists in Game 1. Dhane Smith had 2 goals and 5 assists, and it was Chase Fraser who was the secondary step up with 5 goals and 2 assists, being the center of the dagger run in the third. Chris Cloutier had 2 goals and 3 assists, and each of Kyle Buchanan and Tehoka Nanticoke added 3 points. Matt Vinc finished with 36 saves, including 12 in the fourth quarter, and Paul Dawson in front of him blocked 4 total shots.

For Albany, their run comes up short, but 5 goals and 2 assists from Sam Firth and 3 goals and 4 assists from Alex Simmons, 5 assists from Ethan Walker, and 4 points from Travis Longboat and Tye Kurtz are a reminder that the ceiling will only continue rising for the youngest team in the NLL alongside Dyson Williams coming into the fold next season. Doug Jamieson made 36 saves in the losing effort.

After all the pressure of last season to erase the demons of 2016, 2019, and 2022, the Bandits have now won two in a row and ensured that this era of the NLL was one that ran through Buffalo, and with Dhane and Josh both locked up on long term contracts and Matt Vinc still under term for another season, Tehoka Nanticoke, Chris Cloutier, and Chase Fraser still on the younger side in their careers, and the likes of guys like Zack Belter and Cam Wyers getting ready to pass the torch from Steve Priolo and Nick Weiss on the back end (even though those guys probably have another couple years to go as well), after a summer of celebrating, and not to mention 3 of the first 13 picks in the upcoming draft, this group is going to have their eyes on a much less precedented crown than 2 championships in a row, one that Matt Vinc and Paul Dawson took part in a decade ago down the 90.

So now that this season is over, once again, thank you all for reading along on another NLL journey with Bandits and Knighthawks lacrosse. This is truly a special era of sports in Buffalo and it’s been great to be able to document it. Major Series Lacrosse and the Western Lacrosse Association seasons both start as early as next week, and the PLL and the Box World Championships in September will also help get us through the summer with more lacrosse before training camps start up before we even know it in late-October.