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Knighthawks Make The Final Run, Defeat The Bandits to Defend Home Turf | NLL Week 8 Review

by Eddy Tabone - 0

I’m going to start with homework: If you didn’t watch or attend Friday Night’s game and have ESPN+, watch it now. This recap will still be here when you’re done. If you haven’t seen the NLL before, this is the kind of game to watch and then immediately think once it is over “Where and when can I see more of this?” *Whispers* And both Rochester and Buffalo have lineups that will get you past the disappointing end of the Bills season and into the swing of a heavyweight battle atop the East Division of the NLL for each of Western New York’s teams.

It didn’t take long for either fanbase of a rivalry crowd to get into the game from warmups and into introductions, as everyone in the building was well aware from the jump that first place was on the line in this one. As for the game itself, it only took five minutes for things to start getting chippy, as Tehoka Nanticoke bumped into Rylan Hartley in the crease as the two were chasing a rebound attempt, drawing a crowd headed into the first commercial break. Nanticoke received a goaltender interference penalty, which the Bandits killed off. Buffalo used that first possession upon returning to full strength to break the 0-0 tie courtesy of a quick stick pass from Dhane Smith finished off by Brad McCulley.

The Bandits added the next two goals as well, first with Ian MacKay picking up a transition rebound after a Nick Weiss shot wide, and second with a Dhane Smith powerplay goal after Tyler Biles took a dead ball foul following some pushing and shoving after MacKay’s goal. Thomas Hoggarth was the first Knighthawk to beat Matt Vinc in the closing minutes of the first quarter, and the score was 3-1 after 15.

After Josh Byrne opened the second quarter by scoring in transition, the Knighthawks made their first run of the night. Ryan Smith capitalized on a Joel Tayler slashing penalty and then again a minute later in transition. Curtis Knight tied the game 44 seconds later to complete a 3-goal in the 1:47 stretch. However, the Bandits were quicker to counter than the Knighthawks were in the first quarter as Tayler put the Bandits back in the lead. After Connor Fields scored his first goal of the night to tie it at five, the Bandits made their next run, courtesy of Dhane Smith, Brandon Robinson, and Josh Byrne to give the Bandits an 8-5 lead going into the half.

The goal from Tayler (who formerly went by Joel Matthews) was his first in the NLL in half of a decade. After receiving treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, Matthews fought to return to the league after also spending some time with the Peterborough Timbermen of the Arena Lacrosse League, and he finally got a chance to crack the lineup this week for the first time since beginning his comeback on the Bandits practice squad during September 2020. It was fitting that his comeback came in Rochester, where he spent three of his four previous NLL seasons.

The Knighthawks came out in the third quarter with their counterpunch to erase the halftime deficit. Like the beginning of the first half, it took half a quarter for someone to beat a goaltender, but a Ryan Smith low-to-low shot beat Vinc, and then after a Josh Byrne crease violation on the ensuing Bandits possession, Connor Fields joined in on the fun with his second of the game after beating Nick Weiss and attacking the crease himself. Another Bandits possession stopped later, Matt Gilray joined the Knighthawks set offense and fired an outside shot past Vinc to erase the three-goal deficit in 68 seconds. Dhane Smith and Holden Cattoni exchanged goals minutes later to get the score to 9-9, and then Ryan Smith gave the Knighthawks the lead back after the Bandits turned the ball over in transition on the ensuing faceoff win, receiving a back door pass from Austin Hasen for an open lane to beat Vinc on the doorstep of the crease. Buffalo would get the final laugh of the third quarter, however, as Byrne tied the game on a 6-on-5 possession from a delayed penalty, and then after Max Adler cleanly won the ensuing faceoff, Dhane Smith looked to feed Kyle Buchanan cutting to the net, but the ball bounced off of Knighthawks defender Matt Bennett’s stick and snuck past Rylan Hartley. 11-10 Bandits after 3.

Something we have seen from recent Bandit teams is the ability to go on runs that define a game, whether with their length, the number of goals they score, etc. In this game, however, it was Rochester who made this run, and it came right in the fourth quarter. After another opening 7-8 minutes of scoreless lacrosse, Connor Fields completed the hat trick to tie the game with 9 minutes to play. Another segment of scoreless lacrosse of about 5 minutes, but then Ryan Smith gave the Knighthawks a lead that they wouldn’t give back on a dunk shot.

Holden Cattoni scored the next two goals to extend the lead to 14-11 with 3:31 to play, and then Thomas Hoggarth joined in for his second of the night 32 seconds later. Outside of Josh Byrne scoring one more time in the final two minutes, that was the game, 15-12 the final score. The Knighthawks had knocked off the Bandits for the first time in the expansion era, Buffalo’s first loss in Rochester since January 2019.

Once again, it was the trip of Ryan Smith, Holden Cattoni, and Connor Fields leading the way for the Knighthawks, with Smith being the point leader on the night with 5 goals and 4 assists. Fields was right behind him with 3 goals and 5 assists, and Cattoni had 3 goals and 4 assists. Rylan Hartley stopped 44 shots, including two stretches in the second half where the Bandits almost went 15 minutes between goals.

As for the Bandits, Josh Byrne continued to pace the NLL in points, registering 4 goals and 4 assists. Dhane Smith had more goals than assists for the first time this season, with 4 goals and 2 assists. The two continue to lead the league across the point leaderboards. No other Bandit was able to register more than a single goal.

NLL Stats Page

Also notable for the Bandits was a strong performance in the faceoff dot for Max Adler, who led the Bandits to a 24 for 31 day on faceoffs. Matt Vinc played well despite the 15 goals allowed, stopping 46 saves of his own.

From here, the Knighthawks will head East to battle the Thunderbirds in Halifax on Friday night, while the Bandits have a busy weekend ahead in their quest to bounce back from their second loss of the season. They’ll travel for two road games, first in Philadelphia on Friday, followed by a trip to Long Island to face the Riptide on Saturday.

Week 8 Around The League

The lead-up to week 8 was busy in the player movement department.

The move most critical to this post is Buffalo acquiring Adam Bomberry from Albany for Thomas Vaesen. Bomberry will help out the Bandits’ defense when he enters the lineup, while Vaesen will get a greater opportunity with the FireWolves for regular playing time.

The Wings kicked things off on Monday by acquiring Taite Cattoni (yes Holden’s brother) from Albany for a 2024 3rd. In turn, they released Cory Vitarelli from the PUP list. The Riptide started a busy week on Wednesday in Rich Lisk’s first full week as the Riptide acting GM, as they sent Callum Crawford to Panther City for a duo of 2022 draft picks, Colton Lindstone (RF, Round 1 Pick 21) and Petey LaSalla (RD, Round 3 Pick 47), Kevin Orleman, and three draft picks (2023 RD4, 2024 RD2, 2025 RD2). The Riptide signed Brett Hickey to replace Crawford on the right side after Hickey was released by Calgary on January 11. The Riptide also traded with the FireWolves last week, sending Leo Stouros to Albany in exchange for Curtis Conley and a 2025 third.

Now onto the games

  • Las Vegas Desert Dogs 15 – Vancouver Warriors 14 – If you can believe it, the Warriors led 12-4 at the half, scoring 7 in the first and 5 in the second. Vegas got three goals in the third quarter before exploding for 8 in the fourth, led offensively by Jack Hannah (4G 3A), Zack Greer (2G 1A, including the goal that tied the game at 12), and the Rob Hellyer (2G 7A) scoring the go-ahead and insurance markers in the final five minutes for Vegas’s first franchise win. Landon Kells made 35 saves on 45 shots in 54 relief minutes. Charlie Bertrand chipped in 3 goals and 4 assists as well. Keegan Bal (5) and Kyle Killen (4) combined for 9 goals while Shawn Evans (4) and Mitch Jones (8) combined for 12 assists and each had a goal.
  • Toronto Rock 14 – Philadelphia Wings 5 – The Wings did not have the same luck on Saturday that the Eagles did next door, allowing 13 straight goals across all four quarters after scoring the first goal of the game as the Rock cruised to an afternoon victory and then joined the locals for the nightcap in South Philly. Tom Schreiber had 5 goals and 2 assists, while Joe Resetarits salvaged a disappointing afternoon with a 2 goal and 2 assist performance to lead the Wings.
  • New York Riptide 16 – Albany FireWolves 10 And finally, in their first game without Callum Crawford, Jeff Teat did Jeff Teat things, leading the Riptide to the win with 7 goals and 5 assists. Brett Hickey had 2 goals and 4 assists in his first game in blue and orange, and Larson Sundown’s 2 goals and 2 assists included an appearance on SportsCenter.

Week 9 Matchups (All games on ESPN+ and TSN.ca)

  • Friday, January 27
    • Rochester Knighthawks (6-0) vs Halifax Thunderbirds (3-3) – 6:00
    • Buffalo Bandits (4-2) vs Philadelphia Wings (2-3) – 7:00
  • Saturday, January 28
    • Buffalo Bandits (4-2) vs New York Riptide (1-4) – 7:30
    • Las Vegas Desert Dogs (1-4) vs Saskatchewan Rush (2-2) – 8:30
    • Toronto Rock (4-2) vs Calgary Roughnecks (3-2) – 9:00 – TSN Game of the Week
    • San Diego Seals (4-1) vs Colorado Mammoth (3-1) – 9:00
    • Panther City Lacrosse Club (3-3) vs Vancouver Warriors (1-5) – 10:00
Photo Credit: Rochester Knighthawks
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