Rochester Knighthawks 19 – Panther City 15

Rochester wasted no time finding the back of the net as Thomas McConvey took an open lane to the net to make it 1-0 24 seconds in. Less than a minute later, Connor Fields found Curtis Knight for an open shot from midrange, and then McConvey once again drove to the net and scored again. After winning the ensuing faceoff, Ryan Smith used a screen from Matt Gilray and popped one over the shoulder of Nick Damude to make it 4-0 Rochester only 2:42 into the opening frame. The Back of the Bird put its first stamp on the game with a shorthanded goal from Jonathan Donville with 8:03 left in the quarter, only to be erased by a powerplay goal from Dan Lomas with 3:43 left. A powerplay goal from Will Malcom finished out the opening quarter with Rochester up 5-2.

Another quarter-opening faceoff got the Knighthawks led to another first possession goal, this time for Connor Fields. Will Malcom got his second on an off-balance runner to get the goal right back on Panther City’s next possession, but Rochester had another 3-goal run in them. Fields scored again with another side-arm shot from outside, this time on the powerplay. A forced transition turnover by Brad Gillies led Fields to feed Kyle Waters open in front for his first goal of the game, sending Nick Damude to the bench in favor of Cam MacLeod. With the game at 4-on-3 with 9:55 left in the half, Thomas McConvey finished off a first-half hat trick on a quick stick from Fields to make it 9-3. Minutes later at 4-on-4, Jonathan Donville fed Jason Knox for a goal, and then Malcom got his third, leaving Greg Harnett in his tracks on a spin move to get open in front. Knight’s second made it 10-5 with 3:10 left, and Josh Medeiros scored his first of the season a minute and a half later to make it 10-6 heading into the half.

After a scoreless first four-plus minutes, Jonathan Donville cut the deficit to 3 from outside, but once again, the Knighthawks had another 3-goal run. Dan Lomas reached around Connor Sellars with extended arms for his second of the game with 5:27 left in the quarter. Two possessions later, Curtis Knight sent Ryan Smith to the net on a pick-and-roll for his second, and then Connor Fields got his third again from outside to extend the lead to 13-7. Donville scored from the restraining line to close out the scoring in the third.

Thirteen more goals came in the fourth quarter, starting with the second goal from Jason Knox 52 seconds into the final frame. Back on the powerplay, Kyle Waters scored a minute later for the second of the game. Panther City was next to score on a three-on-two break where Tony Malcom’s stopped shot was rebounded by his brother Will for his fourth of the game. Right off the faceoff, Ryan Lanchbury picked the far corner to get the goal back, and then Thomas McConvey scored his fourth of the game on a break from an outlet pass from Taylor Jensen. Malcom scored again on his opposite side on the next Panther City possession to make it 16-11 before McConvey scored on a Kyle Waters rebound, followed by a Ryan Smith drive to the net with 6:51 left. Panther City went on one final run, as Malcom finished off the sock trick on the next possession, and then Phil Caputo scored twice in 20 seconds to cut it back to 4. McConvey finished off his sock trick with 3:18 left, and Malcom had one more in him to get to his seventh goal with 13 seconds left. Rochester had ended a 6 game-losing streak with a 19-15 win.

Connor Fields put up 14 points with 3 goals and 11 assists to lead the Knighthawks as part of a 7-way tie for the fifth most points in a single game. The 11 assists were also tied for fifth in a single game with 5 others, including previous-era Knighthawks in Dan Dawson and Joe Resetarits. The 6 goals and an assist from Thomas McConvey matched the rookie-high from Tye Kurtz for the season high for a rookie in goals and was one of 9 rookies all time with 6 goals from a rookie. Chris Boushy’s 7 on March 15, 2019, for the previous era Hawks is the all-time rookie record. Ryan Smith also had 7 points with 3 goals and 4 assists, and Curtis Knight had 2 goals and 4 assists in his second game back from injury. Riley Hutchcraft picked up the win with 47 saves. At 4-6, Rochester remains in the hunt for the playoffs, but the schedule will continue to be a challenge here out, so the team is hoping that this is the start of the return to December’s form.

Will Malcom’s 7 goals were paired with 4 assists for a team-high 11 points on the night, with Jonathan Donville adding 3 goals and 4 assists. While being held off the goal sheet, Callum Crawford still had 5 assists. Tony Malcom also had 4 assists in transition. After Nick Damude gave up 8 goals on 26 shots, Cam MacLeod made 36 saves on 47 shots faced in 42:13.

Vancouver Warriors 13 – Buffalo Bandits 12

The New Westminster-born Josh Byrne got the Bandits on the board from outside in the first minute, but the Warriors were awarded a two-minute 5-on-3 after their first possession. Kevin Crowley and Adam Charalambides buried goals during the two minutes to give Vancouver their first goal of the game. The chippy start to the game continued with old friend Brad McCulley taking a roughing penalty and the Warriors soon after getting called for an illegal substitution, giving the Bandits a 5-on-3 of their own. The Bandits got a really good chance after Chris Cloutier forced a turnover on a clearing pass attempt, but his net-front shot was stopped by Aden Walsh. As the ball went the other way, Charalambides fed Ryan Martel streaking off the bench to make it 3-1 with the Warriors down two men. Tehoka Nanticoke spun off of Matt Beers to create space in front of the net to give the Bandits the powerplay goal, and then immediately after the second penalty expired, Josh Byrne sent a long outlet pass to Sam La Roue, who fed Kyle Buchanan in stride to tie the game back up at 3 only 4:58 into the first. Another penalty later in the quarter led to Keegan Bal getting on the scoreboard on the powerplay to make it 4-3 Vancouver, and that score would stand through the end of the quarter.

Buffalo had a five-shot possession on the powerplay to close the second quarter but none of the shots found the back of the net. When play returned to even strength, Adam Charalambides fed Riley Loewen on a roll to make it 5-3 41 seconds into the second quarter. Loewen got his second minutes later before Kevin Crowley added his first with 11:51 left in the half, which sent Devlin Shanahan to the bench in favor of Steven Orleman. This appeared to slow the pacing down a little bit, but the Warriors got the next goal as well with 9:56 to play in the second off of Bal’s second. Dhane Smith got on the scoreboard 36 seconds later to stop the 5-0 run, but Charalambides got his second 24 seconds later. When Chris Cloutier fought off tight defense from Tyson Kirkness to get another goal back 30 seconds later, it seemed like the offense would continue into halftime, but that would be the final goal of the second quarter. Vancouver killed off a 5-on-3 in the middle of the quarter on their way to a 9-5 lead.

Whistles continued their active night to start the third quarter, but it was a shorthanded goal from the Bandits and Chris Cloutier on the two-minute Warriors advantage. After the Bandits forced a stop on the ensuing possession, Josh Byrne drove to the net for his second of the game to quickly make it a two-goal game. Goals from Riley Loewen and Kyle Killen put Vancouver back up 4. Buffalo got those two back in the final two minutes of the quarter, as Byrne completed the hat trick with another burst of speed to the net, and then Chase Fraser scored from midrange on another powerplay to make it 11-9 after 3.

Kevin Crowley and Keegan Bal completed their hat tricks in the opening minutes of the 4th quarter. From there, Josh Byrne scored his fourth of the game with 8:12 to play, and once again the Bandits got it back to a two-goal game two minutes later as Dhane Smith flipped a pass to an open Kyle Buchanan in front of the net. Off of a shot clock violation, Buffalo took advantage and got back within one for the first time since the opening quarter thanks to the fifth of the game for Byrne. In the final two minutes, Smith got close to his second goal of the game after crossing past Brayden Laity to get to the net only to be stopped by Aden Walsh. After forcing a turnover with 30 seconds left, the Bandits got their timeout off for one final chance to tie the game. Byrne drew the Warriors zone into the middle of the floor and flipped to Dhane Smith who went to the net and fed Buchanan behind the net. With the Warriors taking away the dunk, it opened up Tehoka Nanticoke opened in front of the net with Walsh falling off balance. Walsh did make the save, but the play went to automatic review as the ball had a chance to have crossed the goal line. After a nearly five-minute look, the officials ruled inconclusive evidence and the Warriors successfully cleared and erased the closing seconds for the upset in their third win in eleven tries.

Adam Charalambides’s 2 goals and 6 assists led the Warriors and gave him a new career high for points in a game. Vancouver also got three-goal efforts from each of Kevin Crowley (7 points), Keegan Bal (6 points), and Riley Loewen (4 points). In his second consecutive start, Aden Walsh picked up his second career win with 39 saves on 51 shots faced.

For the first time since 2017, the Bandits are below .500 through 11 games at 5-6. They do remain in a playoff spot with Panther City and Calgary also at 5-6, standing in the 7-seed with a 2-2 record against shared opponents (PCLC 3-1, CGY 1-3). Josh Byrne led the Bandits with 5 goals and 3 assists. Dhane Smith had a goal and 5 assists, with Kyle Buchanan and Chris Cloutier each registering 2 goals and 2 assists. In 41:51, Steven Orleman stopped 30 of the 36 shots on goal he faced.

NLL Week 14 in Review

San Diego Seals 10 – Panther City 9, F/OT

Wizardry from Austin Staats gave the Seals the overtime victory over Panther City. Staats led San Diego with 3 goals and 3 assists. Curtis Dickson had 2 goals and 3 assists, while Wes Berg added 2 goals and 2 assists, and Chris Origlieri made 46 saves. For Panther City, Callum Crawford matched Staats with 3 goals and 3 assists to lead Panther City, and Phil Caputo had 2 goals and 2 assists. With San Diego outshooting Panther City 69-55 on goal, Nick Damude made a season-high 59 assists.

Toronto Rock 15 – San Diego Seals 13

After the emotional win in Fort Worth, the Seals led 13-12 with 9:49 to play in the heavyweight battle, but Dan Lintner and Tom Schreiber scored to give the Rock the lead and added an empty net goal to seal the win to keep them atop the league standings. Mark Matthews led the Rock with 2 goals and 6 assists, while Schreiber added 3 goals and 4 assists. Dane Dobbie and Austin Staats had matching 7-point nights to lead the Seals.

Toronto Rock 16 – Las Vegas Desert Dogs 11

And in the first game of their back-to-back weekend, goals flew at Mandalay Bay as Chris Boushy’s 7 spot led the Rock to a 16-11 win. Boushy also had 4 assists for an 11-point evening. Mark Matthews, Tom Schreiber, and Corey Small were each limited to a single goal, but they combined for 19 assists. Josh Dawick also had his first career hat trick for Toronto. Vegas once again was unable to get a second win in a row, but they did get a sock trick from Jack Hannah. Rob Hellyer had a goal and 6 assists in his first game against his former team.

Georgia Swarm 12 – Halifax Thunderbirds 11

A 5-goal run in the final 8:55 got the Thunderbirds back within 1, but the last of those came with only 6 seconds left and the Swarm was able to hold on with a 12-11 win in Halifax to place them a half-game back of the Thunderbirds in the standings. Lyle Thompson was in the zone with 4 goals and 2 assists, while Andrew Kew and Brendan Bomberry also had 6-point evenings. Clarke Petterson led the Thunderbirds with 2 goals and 4 assists. Austin Shanks and Dawson Theede each had 2 goals and 2 assists.

Philadelphia Wings 11 – Calgary Roughnecks 9

The Wings started slow but used a run of 4 goals in two minutes to get back in the game in the second quarter and then erased 4 straight from the Roughnecks to go up 9-6 with the final 5 goals of the afternoon to earn the split of the home-and-home. A trio of 5-point games from Joe Resetarits and Mitch Jones with 2 goals and 3 assists and 5 assists from Ben McIntosh led the Wings who improved to 4-6 behind a 50 save performance from Zach Higgins — his third of the season. Tyler Pace, Tanner Cook, and Jesse King each had 4 points for the Roughnecks.

Albany FireWolves 14 – New York Riptide 8

The Riptide’s 4-game win streak has nearly been erased as the FireWolves sent them to their third straight loss. Alex Simmons got his scoring touch back with 3 goals and 4 assists to lead Albany while Tye Kurtz had 2 goals and 4 assists and Ethan Walker had 3 goals and 2 assists, with Doug Jamieson stopping 45 shots. Cameron Dunkerley had 49 saves in the loss, with Jeff Teat leading the Riptide with 2 goals and 3 assists and Stephen Keogh adding 2 goals and 2 assists.

Saskatchewan Rush 15 – Colorado Mammoth 7

The Rush scored 3 goals in the first five minutes and 6 of the first 8 in the game to pace them to a wire-to-wire 15-7 win in Denver giving them their 3rd win in their last 4. The vets were in charge for the Rush as Ryan Keenan had 5 goals and 3 assists and Robert Church had 3 goals and 5 assists, while Frank Scigliano stopped 32 of the 39 shots he faced. Eli McLaughlin’s 3 goals and an assist and Chris Wardle’s 2 goals and 2 assists led the Mammoth who have now lost 4 out of 5.

Milk!

At long last for the social media replies of Banditland, the Bandits announced the signing of Connor Farrell to a contract for the rest of this season and next season. The 6’2″ 240 midfielder has still yet to debut in an NLL game despite training camp stints with the San Diego Seals and Rochester Knighthawks, but he will be relatively quickly added to the lineup as the team’s faceoff man for the rest of the season. In his 5 PLL seasons with the Chrome (now Denver Outlaws), he is a 55% faceoff winner, including 61% last season. This move also signals that Max Adler will more likely than not be playing this or potentially next season due to work commitments. Farrell, whose nickname is the Milkman, will likely become a fan favorite in Buffalo quickly, especially if he can get off to a quick start through the end of the regular season. To make room, the Bandits released Carter McKenzie.

NLL Week 15 Preview

Saskatchewan Rush (4-5) @ Buffalo Bandits (5-6) – Friday, March 8, 7:30 pm

As of writing this Thursday Night, Matt Vinc remains on injured reserve, so it is unclear who will be in goal for the Bandits as they bring a young scrappy Rush team into town for their Marvel Night. Saskatchewan bounced back from a 13-goal loss to Halifax two weeks ago with a convincing win over the Mammoth last weekend, but there is no telling which version of the team will be taking the floor at KeyBank Center, led by a trio of 90-point pace players in Robert Church, Zach Manns, and Ryan Keenan up front with Frank Scigliano sitting consistently at a .787 save percentage. Canisius college grad Holden Garlent returned to the lineup last week as part of a quickly gelling younger core in the back end that also features veterans Mike Messenger and Adam Jay. The Bandits and Rush are facing off for the first time on March 16, 2019, when Chase Fraser scored the OT winner in a 12-11 Bandits win.

Albany FireWolves (9-2) @ Rochester Knighthawks (4-6) – Saturday, March 9, 7:00 pm

Rochester got back in the win column last weekend, but now take on the FireWolves for the first leg of a home and home the next two weeks, where a sweep would push them back to .500 but two losses could put them officially in the danger zone of a losing season. Each team won the road leg of last season’s head-to-head matchup, with the Knighthawks taking a 14-13 win on December 17 and the FireWolves picking up their third and final win of the season by a 14-12 score on April 8.

Vancouver Warriors (3-8) @ Albany FireWolves (9-2) – Friday March 8, 7:00 pm

Albany’s weekend starts with hosting the Warriors for the first time on their Indigenous Celebration Night, where they will look for their 10th win of the season, which despite a collection of 9-win seasons since, would be the first time since a 10-8 season in their second season in New England back in 2016. The only other FireWolves-Warriors matchup was an 11-7 Albany win on April 2, 2022 in Vancouver.

Calgary Roughnecks (5-6) @ Georgia Swarm (7-6) – Friday, March 8, 7:30 pm

The last meeting between the Swarm and Roughnecks back on February 22, 2020, saw 35 goals, including 14 in a fourth quarter where the two teams exchanged back-and-forth goals for the final 10 minutes and Dane Dobbie finished off a sock trick with the game-winner in overtime. This time, the Swarm looks to create more room between them and the bottom three spots in the playoff picture, while Calgary looks to return to .500.

Colorado Mammoth (4-8) @ Toronto Rock (10-2) – Saturday, March 9, 5:00 pm, TSN Game of the Week

The Rock opened their season with 5 wins before taking their first loss to the Bandits. Right now they have a 4 game winning streak and are looking for a fifth straight win before taking on the Bandits next week. They are facing each other for the first time since January 12, 2019, and it’s the Mammoth’s first trip to Southern Ontario since March 30, 2018. The Mammoth will be without Connor Kelly, who is out with injury.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs (4-7) @ New York Riptide (5-7) – Saturday March 9, 7:30 pm

The Riptide returns to Nassau Coliseum for the first time since the announcement that the team will be relocating to Ottawa after the season. It’s the first and only, all-time meeting between the Desert Dogs and Riptide.

Halifax Thunderbirds (7-5) @ San Diego Seals (8-4) – Saturday, March 9, 10:00 pm

For the second week in a row, the marquee matchup in the NLL will be taking place down in San Diego, where a win for the Thunderbirds would propel them into a tie for third with the head-to-head advantage. In the lone all-time matchup, which took place in Halifax on January 18, 2020, the Thunderbirds won 8-5.

Panther City (5-6) @ Philadelphia Wings (4-6) – Sunday March 10, 3:00 pm

Panther City travels to Philadelphia for the third time in their three seasons in the league, where they and the Wings have split the series 1-1.

Photo Credit: Colleen Shaw