Albany FireWolves 13 – Buffalo Bandits 10

With Matt Vinc sidelined with an upper-body injury, it was going to be critical for the Bandits to get out to a quick start to ease Devlin Shanahan more smoothly into his first career start, and that is exactly what they got. Kyle Buchanan put Buffalo on the board 2:03 into the game from midrange and then Chase Fraser took a long shot off his back foot that snuck past Doug Jamieson to make it 2-0 with 11:26 left in the opening quarter. However, after Ethan Walker scored Albany’s first goal of the game on a runner from the KeyBank Center logo just below the restraining line, a scrum along the benches off the ensuing faceoff developed with Steve Priolo planting multiple cross-checks on FireWolves players for a double minor, and Ian MacKay and Nick Weiss getting dead ball fouls for the Bandits and Leo Stouros for Albany. This all calculated out to a 5-on-3 for Albany where Tye Kurtz scored twice in 26 seconds to give the FireWolves their first lead of the game. A delayed penalty gave the Bandits a 6-on-5 soon after where Josh Byrne scored his first of the game to tie it, and then Ian MacKay buried in transition for another Bandit lead, but another Bandit penalty in the waning minutes led to a third powerplay goal to make it 4-4 after 1, with that goal coming from Sam Firth.

Two goals from Travis Longboat, the second of those also coming on a powerplay, gave the FireWolves a 6-4 to open the second quarter. Josh Byrne scored on the next Buffalo possession, but Albany did the same on theirs, with Alex Simmons finishing off a three-shot possession. After Albany got the next possession and was stopped by the Bandits D, Nick Weiss sprung Dhane Smith in transition, who fed Chris Cloutier net-front with 7:44 to play in the half. Another round of scuffles highlighted the second half of the second quarter, with Justin Martin and Matt Spanger, Colton Watkinson, and Anthony Joaquin getting majors and Steve Priolo and Nate Grenon getting offsetting minors, and then scoring came to a halt until the final minute where Smith found Kyle Buchanan to tie the game at 7 with 43 seconds left. However, that goal was erased right away with another goal from Tye Kurtz with 22 seconds left. And it was Kurtz who was the only scorer in a defensive battle of a third quarter, making the score 9-7 Albany with one quarter to play.

Natural Hat Tricks don’t have the same flare to them when they are across three quarters, but 1:13 into the final frame, Tye Kurtz scored from outside to extend the Albany lead to 3. Buffalo came close to scoring on their next possession, but Doug Jamieson made sure Chase Fraser’s shot didn’t fall too far behind him after it started to trickle that way. Buffalo killed off a penalty soon after, but Albany had another goal waiting for them with Nate Grenon getting on the goal sheet with 8:47 to play. The Bandits were fortunate to not only kill off a second penalty in the quarter, but also got Josh Byrne’s third goal of the game shorthanded with 6:29 left. Right away, Ian MacKay got a partial breakaway after only their second faceoff win of the game, but the shot rang off the post. A minute or so later, Kurtz had his second goal in partial transition to make it 12-8 in the biggest swing of the evening. The Bandits made one final push with the empty net and got two of the goals back, first from Chris Cloutier with 2:35 remaining and then the other from Tehoka Nanticoke with 2:02 left. Albany killed some clock with an offensive rebound off an initial shot, but with 1:16 left, Sam Firth had a pass picked off by Dhane Smith who took the ball the other way for a breakaway, only to be stopped low by Jamieson. That would be their best chance for another goal, and then when Fraser was denied with 13.6 on the clock, Jamieson scooped the ball out in front of him and floated it down the floor and into the net — the second goal of his career and the icing on the cake of Albany’s 8th win of the season.

The league-best FireWolves were led by Tye Kurtz’s sock trick. He also added an assist for a seven-point game that earned him Rookie of the Week. His rookie teammate Alex Simmons, who was the previous week’s top rookie, had a goal and 5 assists. Travis Longboat and Ethan Walker each had 4 points, and Doug Jamieson added 46 saves to his contribution to the offense with his goal. While he didn’t go perfectly as Jake Withers did against Buffalo the week before, Joe Nardella was 25-27 on faceoffs and had 14 loose balls.

The loss dropped the Bandits to 5-5, ensuring their most losses in a regular season since going 8-10 and missing the playoffs in 2018. Devlin Shanahan put up 45 saves in his spot start with Matt Vinc out with injury, certainly doing his relief job well. Josh Byrne had 3 goals and 3 assists to lead the Bandits’ offense, and Dhane Smith had 6 assists to continue his strong season distributing the ball. Unfortunately for him, however, all 11 of his shots on goal were stopped by Jamieson. Chris Cloutier added 2 goals and 3 assists.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs 12 – Rochester Knighthawks 8

Returning from their final bye week of the season, the Knighthawks were eager to start quickly in front of their home fans on Casino Knight, and, despite giving up the first goal of the game to Casey Jackson, they certainly controlled the first quarter. Thomas McConvey parked in front of the net and capitalized off a pass from Ryan Smith to score first for Rochester. Out of the first media timeout, Connor Fields got on the board from outside to give the Knighthawks the lead. About 40 seconds later, Connor Fields fired a behind-the-back pass to Kyle Waters, who fed Dan Lomas on a 2-on-1 to make the score 3-1 with 8:29 left in the opening quarter. Unfortunately, out of the ensuing faceoff, former Knighthawk Charlie Bertrand did what he did many times for the 2022 team and fired an outside shot on the run to make it 3-2. A minute later, Jack Hannah drove to the net off a drop step and tied the game on a backhand. The score would remain tied at 3 at the end of the quarter.

Rochester nearly scored off the opening draw as Ryan Smith fed Ryan Lanchbury in front of the net, but Landon Kells came up with the save. James Barclay rebounded the shot, but Thomas McConvey offered full floor pressure and forced him into an 8-second violation, giving the Knighthawks the ball back where Kyle Waters got on the goal sheet to give his team the lead. With shots 22-11 in favor of Rochester, the home team was controlling play into the second quarter, but Rob Hellyer was able to tie the game with 7:58 left in the half with the smallest of room to beat Riley Hutchcraft. Moments later, the Knighthawks re-took the lead as Curtis Knight picked up his first point in his first game of the season, returning from a late preseason lower-body injury and picking up an assist on a net-front goal from Ryan Smith. The score would remain 5-4 for most of the rest of the second quarter until Sean Westley scored from deep during a delayed penalty with 1:09 left in the half. And then to close out the half, Rochester took the ensuing faceoff and Dan Lomas fed Ryan Smith on a cut to give the Knighthawks a 6-5 lead at the half.

Vegas went to the box off the opening possession of the quarter, and the Knighthawks had a quick answer to go up 2, as a tic-tac-toe passing play from Ryan Smith to Ryan Lanchbury to Connor Fields led to a goal in front between the middle of the Desert Dogs’s zone. It was another delayed penalty, this time to the Knighthawks, that led to the first goal of the half for Vegas courtesy of a midrange sweeper from Dylan Watson. Another Watson sweeper, this time from outside on the right side, tied the game with 7:07 left in the quarter. Fields completed the hat trick to re-take the lead with 4:18 left in the quarter but took a deadball foul penalty after giving a jab to Adrian Sorichetti amidst the celebration. Rochester killed the penalty but would not take the lead into the fourth regardless. Rob Hellyer scored in partial transition with 51.8 seconds left in the quarter to even it up.

After 3, Rochester had steady control of the possession time and took a 43-26 lead in shots on goal into the fourth quarter. And in a familiar setting to you, hockey blog lacrosse recap reader, the score? 8-8. (Some of you are ahead of me).

With just under 12 to play, the Desert Dog defense forced a turnover and went the other way where Jack Hannah fed Casey Jackson in front of the net, upheld through a crease call challenge. Minutes later, Rob Hellyer completed the hat trick from outside, and then after a faceoff win, Vegas took it back and got another outside-side goal from Jack Hannah. After the under-10 timeout and a pair of Knighthawks possessions with Landon Kells saves, Zack Greer and Casey Jackson played pick and roll and made it 12-8. There were chances here and there for Rochester, including a powerplay and a couple of nice transition opportunities, but Kells stood tall on his way to a fourth-quarter shutout, overcoming the 56-40 shot differential to give Vegas their fourth win of the season by that 12-8 score.

Rob Hellyer led the Desert Dogs with 3 goals and 3 assists, Jack Hannah had 2 goals and 3 assists, and Zack Greer had 5 assists as the trio of forwards pushed the efficient scoring push.

While Rochester did have the heavy edge of the possession and shots, with the scoreboard showing their 6th straight loss, all of that did not end up allowing them to overcome falling to second last place in the NLL unified standings. Mike Hasen-led teams have overcome handfuls of losing streaks to salvage seasons and playoff berths in the past, including the 2018 team making the finals after starting 2-6, but as the calendar turns to March, pressure is starting to build for the Knighthawks room as they hit the halfway point of their 18 game schedule. Connor Fields and Ryan Smith each had 6-point nights, but again the secondary scoring was limited to five two-point games from Ryan Lanchbury, Curtis Knight, Thomas McConvey, Kyle Waters, and Dan Lomas. Tyler Halls was the lone transition member of the team with a point, registering a secondary assist in the second quarter.

Week 13 Around The League

Colorado Mammoth 18 – New York Riptide 10

The Mammoth exploded in the second half to the tune of 10 straight goals after trailing 9-8 and took down the Riptide at home. With said explosion, Eli McLaughlin was of course in the thick of it, leading the way with 4 goals and 5 assists. Connor Robinson had 3 goals and 4 assists, matched by Connor Kelly’s goal and 6 assists. Tyson Gibson added 4 goals and 2 assists and Zed Williams added 3 goals and 2 assists. Jeff Teat and Connor Kearnan each had 2 goals and 3 assists for the Riptide.

San Diego Seals 12 – Georgia Swarm 11 F/OT

After trailing 10-7, the Seals rallied for 4 straight goals to take the lead before Seth Oakes forced overtime with 3:21 left in regulation. Georgia nearly got the game-winner about 4 minutes into the overtime, but the shot clock had expired before the ball had crossed the goal line. Right after play resumed, Wes Berg got the game-winner for his sixth goal of the game to give San Diego their 7th win of the season. Austin Staats had 1 goal and 5 assists, and Curtis Dickson added 2 goals and 3 assists. Shayne Jackson led the Swarm with 2 goals and 6 assists, while Oakes had 4 goals and 3 assists.

Panther City 10 – Georgia Swarm 9

Things didn’t get much easier in the second leg of the two-game weekend for Georgia. Leading 9-7 with 3:21 to play, Jonathan Donville and Will Malcom scored twice 27 seconds apart to force a tie, and then Callum Crawford gave Panther City the lead with 40 seconds left. With about 10 seconds left, Georgia appeared to have scored off the stick of Seth Oakes, but he had been the first to touch the ball after falling into the crease which waved the goal off. As Nick Damude looked to clear the ball went right into Bryan Cole’s stick guarding the net front point blank. But his final shot opportunity rang off the post and the ball rolled away as time expired, giving Panther City the win. Crawford had 2 goals and 4 assists, while Donville added 3 goals and 2 assists and Damude made 42 saves. Lyle Thompson had 3 goals and 2 assists to lead Georgia.

Toronto Rock 9 – Vancouver Warriors 5

Tied at 2 at the half, Toronto pulled away with the final four goals of the game in the fourth quarter to take down the Warriors at home. Tom Schreiber’s 2 goals and 4 assists and Mark Matthews added a goal and 4 assists. Nick Rose made 45 saves in another dominant performance. For Vancouver, Ryan Martel had a goal and 3 assists to lead the Warriors. Aden Walsh got the start and played incredibly well with 37 saves.

Halifax Thunderbirds 19 – Saskatchewan Rush 6

If any frustration lingered for the Thunderbirds after an emotional loss on Sunday, and the 11-3 first half for them showed that it might have been erased, and then they rattled off another 5 unanswered goals in the third. Warren Hill stopped 38 saves in a bounce-back for him. Clarke Petterson had 3 goals and 5 assists in his native Saskatchewan to lead the Thunderbirds, while Ryan Benesch had another 4 goals and 2 assists, matched with 3 goals and 3 assists from Randy Staats and 2 goals and 4 assists from Austin Shanks. Clark Walter had 2 goals and an assist for the Rush.

Calgary Roughnecks 14 – Philadelphia Wings 11

A 6-2 fourth quarter gave Calgary their third straight win on the lone Sunday game of the weekend. Jesse King had a team-high 2 goals and 5 assists, while Dan Taylor and Josh Currier combined for 7 goals. Mitch Jones also had 2 goals and 5 assists for the team lead, while Joe Resetarits had 2 goals and 4 assists and Holden Cattoni had 3 goals and 2 assists.

NLL Week 14 Preview

There are NINE games this week in the NLL, which is certainly the highest amount in an NLL weekend of all time.

Rochester Knighthawks (3-6) @ Panther City (5-4) – Sunday, March 3, 4:00 pm

Rochester will look to finally snap their losing streak as they head to Fort Worth for the first time. The Knighthawks won the first matchup of all time last season in Rochester.

Buffalo Bandits (5-5) @ Vancouver Warriors (2-8) – Friday, March 1, 10:00 pm TSN Game of the Week, ESPN+

The Bandits will hope to get back in the win column in a trip to BC for the first time since February 7, 2020. The last win for Vancouver over Buffalo was in January of 2018, where Joel McCready scored the OT game-winner for the Stealth. Matt Vinc remains questionable coming into this game, but the team will be without Matt Spanger, who was placed on IR.

Georgia Swarm (6-6) @ Halifax Thunderbirds (7-4) – Friday, March 1, 7:00 pm

The first leg of the TSN Game of the Week doubleheader will see the Thunderbirds look to protect their home floor once again with the Swarm coming to town in search of a bounce-back victory. The teams have split their head-to-head matchups in each of the last two seasons, but this will be the lone matchup this season.

San Diego Seals (7-3) @ Panther City (5-4) – Friday, March 1, 8:00 pm

In the first of two games this weekend for both teams, Panther City will look to build on their momentum with a home matchup against the Seals, who have won 4 of the 5 all-time matchups. They will play in San Diego on April 5.

Toronto Rock (8-2) @ Las Vegas Desert Dogs (4-6) – Friday March 1, 10:00 pm

After the Rock played a defensive struggle last week, a matchup with the emerging defense of the Desert Dogs this week is the first all-time matchup between these two teams.

Calgary Roughnecks (5-5) @ Philadelphia Wings (3-6) – Saturday March 2, 1:00 pm

Wells Fargo Center will host a doubleheader on Saturday with the Wings playing at 1 and the Flyers will host the Senators at 7. This game will finish the home and home between the Wings and Roughnecks. The lone all-time matchup in Philadelphia took place on February 6, 2019.

New York Riptide (5-6) @ Albany FireWolves (8-2) – Saturday, March 2, 7:00 pm

It’s the first of two matchups between the FireWolves and Riptide this season. The Riptide have won 4 of the 5 matchups since the FireWolves moved to Albany.

Saskatchewan Rush (3-5) @ Colorado Mammoth (4-7) – Saturday, March 2, 9:00 pm

Two long-time rivals will take place for the lone matchup of the 2024 season after the Rush took 2 of the 3 games last year. Both teams are looking to keep pace in the playoff hunt.

Toronto Rock (8-2) @ San Diego Seals (7-3) – Saturday March 2, 10:00 pm

In what may be the game of the year to this point, the Seals and Rock will battle for the first time since April 2, 2022, and the first time in San Diego since December 14, 2019. Toronto has won all three all-time matchups.

Photo Credit: Mike Hetzel/NLL