Buffalo Bandits 16 – Toronto Rock 14

With Tom Schreiber making his first appearance of the season, it was expected that the Rock’s offense would get themselves a boost to aid an already 5-0 roster. And the people setting those expectations certainly weren’t wrong, but the path there and the outcome certainly wasn’t as cut and dry.

The Bandits found themselves short-handed right off of the Rock’s first offensive possession, but they were the ones to find the back of the net with Ian MacKay scoring in transition. And that ended up being it for the first quarter. Toronto killed off their own PK and came up short again on a powerplay at the end of the quarter.

Special teams provided the first two goals of the second quarter, starting with a Chase Fraser quick stick two minutes into the frame and then Josh Byrne also on the powerplay on a point rip to make it 3-0 Bandits with 10:53 left in the half. Toronto got their first goal soon after from Dan Craig, but the Bandits immediately countered with a one-handed goal from Brandon Robinson. And the goals kept coming as Billy Hostrawser blocked a shot and sprung Justin Martin (Toronto’s) for a partial breakaway, and then after the Bandits controlled the ensuing faceoff, a shot in the set offense from Kyle Buchanan was rebounded in front by none other than Steve Priolo who stuck around for an O shift and got his first goal of the season to make it 5-2 Buffalo. Toronto found the back of the net with just under 5 minutes left, but Mark Matthews was running through the crease after passing to set up Dan Lintner for the called-off goal, and then Buffalo went back the other way and got back on the board an underhanded shot from Tehoka Nanticoke. Fortunately, Lintner didn’t have to wait too long to get a sure goal, as on the next Rock possession he buried his own rebound. Yet Buffalo had a response with a rebound finish of its own, this time with Buchanan picking up an offensive rebound and finding, again, Priolo camped out in front of the net for his second of the game — his first multi-goal game since May 4, 2019. Each team found the back of the net once more in the quarter; First with Fraser getting his second and then the Rock getting a bar-down goal from Craig on the final possession of the half, making the score 8-4 after 30.

Phil Mazzuca scored off the opening faceoff of the second half to immediately get the score to 8-5, and then after forcing a turnover on the Bandits’ next possession, Mark Matthews found room just inside the post to beat Matt Vinc for his first goal of the night, and then after a Dhane Smith illegal body check sent the Rock back to the powerplay, Chris Boushy finished off a quick stick to make it a one-goal game with 11:46 left in the quarter. Dhane Smith broke up the 4 straight Rock goals with 7:06 to play in the quarter, but Toronto had another run in them. Dan Lintner took the ball to the cage and beat Vinc short side before the goaltender laid him out with a hit, and then after the Rock got the ball after a faceoff violation and the under 5 timeout, Tom Schreiber fed Boushy for a dunk to tie the game up for the first time since 0-0. Corey Small fired from outside with 1:07 to give the Rock their first lead of the game, and they would take it into the final frame.

Toronto looked like they were going to escape going down 5-on-3 at the end of the third with coinciding two-minute and a five-minute penalties with 30 seconds left in the third, but Kyle Buchanan put a rebound past Nick Rose with 20 seconds left in the major to tie the game back out. Then a few possessions later after the game returned to 5-on-5, Chase Fraser put himself atop the plays of the week with a swim and a behind-the-back surprise for Rose that beat him to give the Bandits the lead back. As the Bandits won the ensuing faceoff and Dhane Smith set up Brandon Robinson for a quick stick to go up 12-10 with 9:20 left to play, it started to become more evident where this one was going after 3 goals in 1:28. Fraser set up Tehoka Nanticoke in front of the net to make it 13-10 with 8 minutes to play, then a couple possessions later after Tom Schreiber hit the post and the Bandits forced a turnover off of the rebound chase, Fraser went low-to-high for his fourth goal of the game. Out of the final TV timeout, the Rock had their first empty net possession, and Chris Boushy found room between the Bandits zone for a high-quality shot, but the shot rang off the crossbar, and Ian MacKay went the other way and put his second goal of the game into the empty net. With 2:40 to play, Dhane Smith put another empty netter in, and with the score at 16-10, the Bandits were on their way to traveling to Hamilton and knocking off the 5-0 Rock. But it wasn’t that certain.

After Buffalo won the next faceoff and killed their 30-second possession, the Rock ended their scoring drought with Boushy beating Vinc with 1:45 to play. The Rock’s transition defense forced a turnover after the Bandits won another faceoff, and once again, Schreiber fed Boushy in front for another goal with 1:01 to play. Another faceoff win and another turnover later, and then Brad Kri pushed up in transition to Schreiber who beat Vinc five hole with 43 seconds left. A lengthy loose ball chase led to a Rock faceoff win this time, and with the net empty off the draw, Schreiber found the back of the net once more with still 16 seconds on the clock and now a two-goal deficit. Buffalo won the ensuing faceoff. Could they finally run out the clock? Yes. Those empty netters turned out valuable after all.

Chase Fraser’s 4 goals and assist led the Bandits in the goal column, while Josh Burme, who also had a goal, and Chris Cloutier each had 6 assists. Dhane Smith had two goals and four assists. They also got a combined 4 goals and 5 assists from the transition trio of Nick Weiss, Steve Priolo, and Ian MacKay, who won 20 of 29 faceoffs for his best game at the dot on the season. For Toronto, Tom Schreiber led the Rock with 2 goals and 4 assists in his return to the lineup, while Chris Boushy had 4 goals and an assist and Dan Craig had 2 goals and 2 assists.

Halifax Thunderbirds 13 – Rochester Knighthawks 8

The speed was a factor to open the game up, as Jake Withers took a faceoff win and pushed to an open Clarke Petterson to make it 1-0 off the opening draw. They were able to make it 2-0 soon after as Ryan Benesch finished after a couple of net from fakes. Matt Gilray put Rochester on the board on their first transition opportunity, but Colton Armstrong was able to get one of his own and make it 3-1. Played slowed down in the middle of the quarter, but Taylor Jensen stopped that as he went coast-to-coast to beat Hill, but he did not manage his first NLL goal after his foot was found to have landed in the crease on a Mike Accursi challenge. Rochester didn’t have to wait too much longer to get that 3-2 tally back, as Connor Fields got to the middle of the floor and bounced one past Warren Hill for his first of the game with 2:20 left in the quarter. Benesch’s second made it 4-2 40 seconds later, and that would be the score after 15.

A Thunderbirds powerplay gave them some extended possession to open up the second quarter, but Riley Hutchcraft made a handful of saves to keep the score 4-2. Warren Hill continued a really strong start for him as well as Rochester’s best chances continued to be denied by the final level of defense, including two breakaways in the first 6 minutes of the second frame. A robbery on Kyle Waters in transition led to Ryan Benesch rebounding a Dawson Theede opportunity for the hat trick to make it 5-2 with 8:45 to play. Rochester got a powerplay after Theede was called for extra-curricular after the goal, but it was the Thunderbirds scoring again during the 2 minutes as Randy Staats picked his corner on a drive to the net to make it 6-2. The Knighthawks finally beat Hill for the first time in over 10 minutes with another transition marker, once again in transition as Brad Gillies threw a bounce pass to a streaking Ethan O’Connor for the goal, but Staats answered back once again with a five-hole dribbler with just under 5 minutes to play in the half. Another transition goal made it 7-4 as Ryan Smith got a clear lane to beat Hill with a little help from a screen from Ben Macdonnell in his NLL debut. Benesch had one more in him before the end of the half, as the Knighthawks forced a turnover but the ball trickled away and right to Benesch all alone on top of the crease. The goal was his 528th all-time, which placed him 5th all-time in goals scored, passing Colin Doyle.

Clarke Petterson opened the second half up the way he did the first, driving to the net and making it 9-4 3:04 in. A five-minute elbowing penalty to Dan Lomas gave the Thunderbirds some more extended time with the ball in the middle of the quarter, where Austin Shanks put them into double digits with a net-front opportunity. The “not our night” theme for the Knighthawks offense continued as Connor Fields buried a marker that was waved off by an off-ball illegal screen, but they were able to get the next powerplay opportunity out of the under-five timeout in the frame with a five-on-three as the Thunderbirds took simultaneous penalties for cross-checking and an illegal substitution. The first penalty was erased right away from a Ryan Smith goal but the Thunderbirds killed the second and got another powerplay of their own in the final ten seconds of the frame. And it was Petterson again to make it 11-5 after 3.

Ben Macdonnell scored his first NLL goal transition a minute into the final frame, and Connor Fields cut it to four with just over 10 minutes left to go. Some post-play shenanigans led to a five-minute penalty for Dawson Theede, but Warren Hill was able to stop a back door quick stick, a dunk attempt, and a 4-on-2 in transition on the way to a full kill for the Thunderbirds penalty killing unit. A frustration penalty from Austin Hasen in the final four minutes made the comeback effort a little more challenging as the Thunderbirds got some more time with the man advantage, but Connor Fields finished a play-off in transition to make it 11-8 to keep the Knighthawks alive. However, Ryan Benesch had one more goal in him on a step back through a screen to push the lead back up to four. An Austin Shanks empty netter finished the game out, and the Thunderbirds got themselves back to 3-3 with a bounce-back home win off of a bye week.

Ryan Benesch’s five-goal performance was joined by 3 goals and 2 assists for Clarke Petterson and 2 goals and 3 assists from Randy Staats. Austin Shanks had 2 goals and 2 assists and Cody Jamieson had 3 assists as well. Despite Joe Post holding his own against Jake Withers for most of the night at the dot, Withers still managed 21 loose balls as part of the stellar defensive performance from the Thunderbirds at 5-on-5, capped off with 42 saves from Warren Hill in his best game of the season so far.

With Rochester falling to 3-3, they managed to get 3 goals from Connor Fields and two goals from Ryan Smith, but neither of them managed an assist. The rest of the offense combined for no goals and only 2 assists as the Thunderbirds defense combined with Hill were able to silence the offense that came into the week leading the lead in goals per game. Riley Hutchcraft had 41 saves in the losing effort. After a 3-0 start, the Knighthawks are now 3-3 after a strange part of the schedule where they have only played those three games alone since Christmas. With only one bye week left on the season, they’ll be able to play a more consistent schedule soon, but it doesn’t get easier right away as they will need to travel to Banditland next weekend before returning home on February 10th against the Swarm.

Week 9 Around The League

Colorado Mammoth 14 – Vancouver Warriors 8

After needing comeback heroics in the first of their two matchups this season, it was a front-loaded effort from the Mammoth that improved them to 3-4. A 5-goal 5 assist performance from Eli McLaughlin steered the ship for the Mammoth, who led as much as 9-2 in the second quarter. Tyson Gibson (2G 3A) and Connor Robinson (1G 4A) each had 5 points, while Dillon Ward picked up the win with 38 saves. Keegan Bal had 3 goals and 4 assists to lead the Warriors, with Adam Charalambides adding a goal and 4 assists.

San Diego Seals 12 – Philadelphia Wings 11

A 5-1 first quarter for the Seals had the Wings playing catchup most of the way, and a 4-1 run in the first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter after a 7-minute penalty to Chad Tutton for an illegal body check and unsportsmanlike conduct proved enough to hold off 4 goals from the Wings in the final 10:12 to give the Seals a 12-11 road win to improve them to 5-2. Tre Leclaire set a career high with 3 goals and 6 assists, Wes Berg had 2 goals and 4 assists, and Austin Staats had 3 goals and 2 assists in a balanced effort of the Seals offense. Ben McIntosh had 3 goals and 5 assists to lead the Wings, while Joe Resetarits had 3 goals and 3 assists and Holden Cattoni and Mitch Jones each had 5 assists. Zach Higgins made 49 saves to keep the Wings in it for that final push, as the Seals outshot the Wings 61-52.

New York Riptide 14 – Georgia Swarm 11

The Riptide finished off a bounceback 3-1 month of January with their first home win of the season over the Swarm. Jeff Teat opened the game with 4 goals in the first half and another 2 assists for a 6 point night that was matched by 3 goals and 3 assists from Larson Sundown. Connor Kearnan had 3 goals and 4 assists to share the lead in points with 7 assists from Reilly O’Connor. Lyle Thompson had 3 goals and 3 assists to lead the Swarm with Andrew Kew adding 2 goals and 3 assists. Angus Goodleaf made 10 saves on 11 shots faced after relieving Brett Dobson for the final 25:09.

Panther City 21 – Las Vegas Desert Dogs 12

And to wrap things up, Panther City went up 8-1 after 1 and 15-3 after 2 on their way to a 21-12 win. The 39-year-old ageless wonder Callum Crawford set a new career high in points with 8 goals and 7 assists, while Will Malcom was right behind with 4 goals and 10 assists. Their 29 combined points are the most by two teammates in a game in NLL history. Phil Caputo had 5 goals and an assist and both Jonathan Donville and Mathieu Gautier each had a goal and 6 assists. Vegas managed to salvage the score a little bit after going down 18-3 with 11:58 left in the third quarter and got a career-high game from rookie Dylan Watson with 4 goals and an assist. Rob Hellyer had a team-high 9 points with a goal and 8 assists, and Zack Greer had 3 goals and 2 assists.

Week 10 Previews

Rochester Knighthawks (3-3) @ Buffalo Bandits (4-3) – Saturday, February 3, 7:30 pm (ESPN+ and WNLO)

The Buffalo-based leg of the Bandits-Knighthawks rivalry will take place Saturday Night at KeyBank Center. The first matchup had a wild 10-10 first half and then a defensive third quarter before the Bandits took over in the fourth quarter on offense. Rochester has yet to win in Buffalo in the Expansion Era, with the last matchup of course having been last year’s first round. The injury report remains consistent with how it was in the first matchup, with Dan Coates remaining out with an undisclosed illness, most notably.

Halifax Thunderbirds (3-3) @ Philadelphia Wings (2-4) – Friday February 2, 7:00 pm

Philadelphia pulled the upset in a 16-15 thriller in Halifax in the first of two matchups, so the Thunderbirds will be looking for revenge and are hoping their defense can repeat last week’s performance. David Brock will make his season debut for the Thunderbirds, while Holden Cattoni will miss the games for Personal Reasons for the Wings. Philadelphia last beat the Thunderbirds in 2019 when they were still the previous-era Knighthawks with a 15-14 OT win, but the matchup has been filled with Halifax victories since their move.

Vancouver Warriors (2-5) @ Georgia Swarm (4-4) – Friday, February 2, 7:30 pm

Vancouver played their only “full 60” game in the first matchup against the Swarm, where they won the home meeting of their head-to-head this season. This will be the first time the Warriors come to Georgia since January 5, 2019, when the Swarm won 10-8

New York Riptide (3-4) @ Calgary Roughnecks (2-3) – Friday, February 2, 9:00 pm

The first of two home games this weekend for the Roughnecks, they will be looking to get back to 3-3 and hold off one of the hottest teams in the league in January in New York. The lone other matchup between the Riptide and Roughnecks also took place in Calgary, when the Roughnecks won 13-9 on February 8, 2020. Zero players who played for the Riptide in that game are still on the team.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs (2-4) @ Albany FireWolves (6-1) – Saturday February 3, 7:00 pm

A much different preview than the first matchup was for Week 1, as the FireWolves have turned into the surprise stars of the early season, while the Desert Dogs find themselves closer to the bottom of the standings with a pair of debilitating blowout losses as part of that. This is the second trip for Vegas to Albany, with the Desert Dogs winning 12-10 on February 18th last season.

Panther City (3-3) @ Saskatchewan Rush (1-4) – Saturday, February 3, 8:00 pm

Statistically, the Rush haven’t played too poorly, with a pair of two-goal losses and an overtime loss to the FireWolves as part of that 1-4 record, but it doesn’t get easier as Panther City is coming off their offensive explosion as they come into Saskatoon this weekend. The Rush are 3-2 in the all-time series, with the two teams splitting the season series last year with the home team winning each game. This is the only matchup they will play this season, and the Rush has a special guest who will be appearing (open for a surprise, things of that nature).

Toronto Rock (5-1) @ Calgary Roughnecks (2-3) – Saturday February 3, 9:00 pm

The latter of the Roughnecks’ two home games will be another challenge for Calgary, as they welcome a hungry Rock team looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season. The Rock defeated the Roughnecks 11-10 in overtime last season on January 28 in their lone matchup post-COVID.

Colorado Mammoth (3-4) @ San Diego Seals (5-2) – Sunday, February 4, 6:00 pm

San Diego won the first matchup of the season against Colorado in Denver and will host a Sunday Funday matchup with the Mammoth, who return to Southern California for the first time since upsetting the Seals in the first round of last year’s playoffs. This will be the 12th post-COVID matchup between the Western rivals.

Photo Credit: CHRISTIAN BENDER/National Lacrosse League