When the league scheduled the third matchup of the season between the Rock and Bandits to take place in the second last week of the regular season, they must’ve been drooling at the concept that the game could be for the 1 seed in the East. After both teams held up to their end of the deal, that’s the scenario we’ll be getting on ESPNU this Saturday Night from Banditland.

Buffalo Bandits 11 – New York Riptide 10

Nothing about this game for the Bandits could be described as comfortable, and it was reflected on the scoreboard early as Scott Dominey scored in transition to open the scoring, and then Jeff Teat buried his first of the night on the run to put the Riptide up 2-0 in the first 7 minutes, setting the tempo of needing to play catch up from early on. The goal was Teat’s 50th of the season, expanding on his league lead in that category. Secondary scoring, however, stepped up along the way, as they were able to tie the game back up minutes later with goals from Kyle Buchanan and Ian MacKay 28 seconds apart, and that was the score that took us to the end of the first quarter.

The Riptide continued to lead the goal-scoring tempo, as Dominey scored to open the second quarter scoring as well. It took about 10 minutes into the quarter for the Bandits to respond, as Dhane Smith got on the goal sheet on the powerplay, but Larson Sundown responded to give the lead back to the Riptide. While Chase Fraser scored with 1:03 to play in the half, once again, the Riptide had the next laugh, as Teat scored with 20 seconds to go. 5-4 Riptide at the half.

An early second-half holding penalty from Ethan O’Connor allowed the Riptide to once again open scoring in the third quarter, courtesy of Tyler Digby. Buchanan’s second of the game was countered by Mike Burke’s first, but when Buchanan completed the hat trick 22 seconds later, it was the Bandits who were able to score the ensuing goal to tie the game, courtesy of Dhane Smith with 48 seconds left in the quarter. However, with 14 seconds left, it was Digby again to make it 8-7.

And once again, the Riptide opened scoring in the fourth, this time with Connor Kearnan getting on the board with 9:40 to play, but the (I’m sorry) tide was about to turn, as after 45+ minutes of a frustrating start to the game where he just couldn’t seem to solve Cam Dunkerley, Josh Byrne broke through, attacking the net, beating Dunkerley, and showing visual relief with that monkey off his back. Burke’s second pushed the Riptide lead back to 2, but it was Byrne responding with his second to bring it back within one. Despite the continued pressure, the Bandits were unable to tie the game as the clock started to wind down, but in a settled transition, Byrne fed Smith who shot on the run and tied the game with 29 seconds to play, and for the fourth time this season, the Bandits were headed to overtime tied at 10.

Since February 18, the Bandits have gone to overtime every other game including the Riptide game, and they had won each of the other three overtime games. Neither team was able to score out of their timeout, pushing the game along until the Bandits were able to end it for the fourth time in bonus lacrosse, as Bryne was able to set up in isolation and bury a stepback to complete the hat trick and give his team a gritty home victory on an emotional Tucker Out Lymphoma Night in downtown Buffalo in front of a season-high crowd of 16,051.

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BYRNE WITH THE OT WINNER!@NLLBandits pic.twitter.com/ez3TNI1SnS

— NLL (@NLL) April 16, 2023

After being pointless for the first 42 minutes of the game, Byrne registered a point on 5 of the final 6 Bandit goals in a superstar takeover kind of performance in that final quarter and a handful. Thankfully for the struggling Bandits offense, their other superstar made his presence known the whole way, as Dhane Smith registered a point on all 11 Bandits goals with 3 goals and 8 assists. The last time in the NLL that a player had a point on every one of their team’s goals, it was against the Bandits, as Garrett Billings had 4 goals and 11 assists for the Rock against the Bandits in Buffalo on March 31, 2012. Kyle Buchanan’s hat trick provided the secondary scoring, and Chris Cloutier had 5 assists.

For the Riptide, despite 21 registered shots on goal, Jeff Teat was held to 2 goals on the night, but he did distribute 5 assists. With shots 58-57 in favor of Buffalo at the game’s end, the 23-year-old rookie Cam Dunkerley went save for save with the 40-year-old Matt Vinc, each of them registering 47.

From here, the 12-4 Bandits move on to undoubtedly the biggest game of the NLL season, as they will host the 13-4 Toronto Rock, with the winner getting the 1 seed in the East. And with how the Rock has been playing since the calendar turn, they have earned the spot as the favorites going into this one, even with having to travel to Buffalo for the matchup.

Toronto Rock 12 – Philadelphia Wings 7

A 5-1 second quarter was too much for the Wings to overcome, as the Rock were able to avenge their earlier loss to the Wings to get their 13th win in their final home game of the regular season. Tom Schreiber had 3 goals and 5 assists to move to 45 goals and 67 assists, good for 3rd in the NLL. Dan Dawson turned back the clock with 3 goals of his own. Nick Rose’s 35 saves on 42 shots faced registered his and the defense’s 10th game of the season allowing less than 10 goals. Rose has an 8.91 GAA to lead the league and is one of three goalies (Vinc and Christian Del Bianco as well) with over an 0.800 SV%. For the Wings outside of 5 goals from Mitch Jones, the 7-9 club was held in check on offense. Zach Higgins’s 53 saves kept the game from being any less close.

Calgary Roughnecks 12 – Las Vegas Desert Dogs 7

The Roughnecks were able to once again keep pace with the Seals at the top of the West, avenging a loss to Vegas earlier in the season with a 12-7 win of their own to improve to 12-5. Jesse King’s 2 goals and 5 assists and Tanner Cook’s 2 goals and 4 assists led Calgary, while the defense and Christian Del Bianco also registered their 10th game of the season allowing less than 10 goals. Jacob Ruest had 3 goals and an assist to lead Vegas, who dropped to 5-11. They also got a little bit of help on the ol’ out-of-town scoreboard.

Colorado Mammoth 15 – San Diego Seals 14

A 5-0 run across the final 11:38 of the first half erased a slow start for the Mammoth, and then 5 of the first 7 goals in the second half to lead 13-9. The Seals rattled off 5 straight of their own to retake the lead, but two powerplay goals from Eli McLaughlin in the fourth gave the Mammoth the lead and, with a little help from Austin Staats hitting the crossbar in the closing seconds, the victory. McLaughlin finished the game with 3 goals and 3 assists, leading the way for Colorado alongside a goal and 7 assists for Ryan Lee. Zed Williams also added 2 goals and 3 assists, as the Mammoth have won three straight to move to 9-7 and clinched a playoff spot. San Diego drops to 12-4 but their game in hand keeps them ahead of Calgary in the standings. Wes Berg had 6 goals and 3 assists to lead the way, while Dane Dobbie 3 goals and 4 assists.

The Mammoth won their season series over Panther City, so with each team at 9-7, they briefly had a hold of the 3-seed, but the crew from Fort Worth didn’t let that last for too long.

Panther City 9 – Vancouver Warriors 8

The Warriors held Panther City in check for 3 quarters, holding them to 1 goal in the middle two quarters, but they scored 4 goals in the fourth to sneak back into the lead and hold on for the win. With the score tied back up at 7, Keegan Bal scored to put the Warriors back up with 3:20 to play, but transition goals from Matt Hossack with 1:37 left and Josh Medeiros with 1:04 left stunned the home crowd. Seven different members of PCLC scored, with Medeiros and Will Malcom the lone two who got multiple goals, and Nick Damude’s 45 saves led them to the win. Aden Walsh got his first start on February 11 and made 49 saves in another impressive performance from a rookie goaltender this week. Shawn Evans turned back the clock with 4 goals and 2 assists to lead the Warriors. He is now 3 points behind Josh Sanderson for 5th all-time in league scoring. Panther City moves to 10-7 as they also clinched a playoff berth while moving back into the 3 seed for now.

And Back To The East

Philadelphia’s loss dropped them to 7-9 and makes their path to the playoffs pretty crowded, as the final two spots in the East will come down to 4 teams, with the Wings having the least wins of those three. More on the look-ahead later, but first, we see how two of the teams in front of them improved to 8-8.

Georgia Swarm 15 – Albany FireWolves 6

The still red-hot Swarm wasted no time repeating their opening matchup with the FireWolves with another wire-to-wire dominant win over the now 3-13 Albany squad, leading as much as 15-4. Balanced volume led the way for the Swarm, with Andrew Kew putting up 4 goals and 5 assists. Shayne Jackson had 3 goals and 5 assists, Brendan Bomberry had 2 goals and 5 assists, and in his return to the lineup for the first time since February 18, Ryan Lanchbury had 3 goals and 4 assists. Brett Dobson gave up only 4 goals in 53:51 as he continues to make his case for rookie of the year candidacy for the now 8-8 Swarm, who hold onto the 4th spot in the playoffs. Marshall Powless’s 2 goals and 2 assists led Albany.

Halifax Thunderbirds 15 – Saskatchewan Rush 11

Nobody would suggest that the Thunderbirds’ offense isn’t high-powered, but for most of the season, they have missed out on opportunities to not only excel but also dominate for a long period. Needless to say, a 9-2 fourth quarter after trailing 9-6 on the road fits those criteria, eliminating the Rush from playoff contention along the way. The right side was exceptional for the Thunderbirds’ offense, with a combined 18 points from Randy Staats (3G 4A), Clarke Petterson (4G 2A), and Austin Shanks (5A). Ryan Benesch had 4 goals as well from the left side. Mark Matthews had 2 goals and 4 assists, and Robert Church had 3 goals and 2 assists to lead the Rush.

And Now, The Week 21 Preview

Saturday, April 22

Toronto Rock @ Buffalo Bandits – 8:00 pm – ESPNU – There’s not too much left to be said about this game. They are the definitive and deserving favorites in the East, and the winner of the game will win the season series and have the home floor at a minimum through the East portion of the playoffs.

Georgia Swarm @ Rochester Knighthawks – 7:00 pm – For Rochester, it’s once again winning and in, which seemed a lot less complicated at 8-2 compared to 9-7, especially given the 6-game winning streak that their opponent this week is on since they defeated them in Georgia back on March 12. Given how the first two matchups have gone, it’s likely going to be an offensive slugfest, so every possession will be critical to getting an early lead and holding onto it to ease the pressure, and frankly, with the 10-goal victory over Halifax in their first matchup, a Georgia loss does not bury them / increase the pressure for the final weekend the way a Knighthawks loss would with their matchup in Week 22 being Philly who has the 2-0 lead over them so far this season.

New York Riptide @ Halifax Thunderbirds – 6:00 pm – TSN Game of the Week – The Thunderbirds have tiebreakers in head-to-head over both Rochester (H2H goal diff) and Philadelphia (H2H record), but are -10 head-to-head against Georgia in the tiebreaker formula headed into their week 22 matchup, that tiebreaker will be much tougher to catch. Beating the Riptide would make things simpler for their playoff aspirations, so after a 20-11 win over the Riptide on Long Island back in December, repeating the success is not just the hope, but the expectation for the Thunderbirds.

Sunday, April 23

Philadelphia Wings @ Albany FireWolves – 3:00 pm – Contextually, the Rock’s win over the Wings was its giant leap for Philadelphia to have to overcome, but the Wings’ 9th loss means that they no longer have control over their destiny and have to both win out and get help along the way. Like the Thunderbirds, the Wings find themselves matched up with an opponent this week that they defeated by 9 earlier this season.

And in the West

Friday, April 21 – Calgary Roughnecks @ Panther City – Both teams have their sights on odd-number seeds, as the Roughnecks cannot be passed by PCLC, who will aim to ensure they don’t get jumped by Colorado.

Saturday, April 22

Las Vegas Desert Dogs @ San Diego Seals – 10:00 pm – A win or Roughnecks loss gives the Seals the top seed in the West with their +2 H2H goal differential against Calgary on the season. The Seals have won each of the first two matchups this season against Vegas, with this week’s being the first at Pechanga Arena

Colorado Mammoth @ Saskatchewan Rush – 9:30 pm – Colorado opened the season in Saskatoon and got run out of the building in an 18-6 loss to the Rush, so their aspiration to stay in the running for the 3-seed, needing a win and a Panther City loss to clinch that this week, comes with aspiration for revenge over the now eliminated Rush.

The playoffs are right around the corner and seem even closer with the slate of marquee matchups this week. If you haven’t had a chance to check out any NLL games yet this season, this week is perfect for getting into the action.

Photo Credit: NLL