You are here
Home > Buffalo Bandits >

Wings Get OT Win Over Knighthawks Again, Rock Bully Bandits to Take First Place Back | NLL Week 18 Review

by Eddy Tabone - 0

Philadelphia Wings 14 – Rochester Knighthawks 13

The broadcast for this game was sure to highlight the Peterborough Laker connections between the Knighthawks and Wings as a primary focal point for the matchup, as Paul Day GMs the Major Series Lacrosse team in the summer and Mike Hasen coaches, and 17 players between the two rosters (Dawson, Evans, Hasen, Whitty, Stouros, Hoggarth, Ogilvie, Gilray, and Holden Cattoni for Rochester – Resetarits, Shewell, Llord, Pace, Tutton, Matisz, Taite Cattoni, and McDonald for the Wings) suited up for the Century 21-sponsored team last summer. Is that the primary ingredient to what has been two overtime matchups this season with one more game to go this season? Probably!

The first half scoring was relatively back and forth throughout, as Ben McIntosh opened the scoring with a clear path to the net as the teams were changing with the shot clock expiring, countered by Connor Fields on the ensuing possession for the Knighthawks. Joe Resetarits scored from mid-range to give the Wings the lead back, only for Holden Cattoni and Connor Fields to erase that deficit with two goals in 37 seconds. A pair of transition goals from Isaiah Davis-Allen and Chad Tutton in the final 3 minutes of the quarter gave the Wings a 4-3 lead after the first.

With more of the same in the second, Ryan Smith drove and beat Zach Higgins over the near shoulder to tie the game, but then the Wings got two more from Resetarits and McIntosh to be the first team in the game to go up by 2. Connor Fields and Taite Cattoni exchanged goals 22 seconds apart, but then the Knighthawks got 2 transition goals of their own, first from Matt Gilray on the ensuing faceoff as he dunked in his own rebound to beat Higgins in style, and the Ryland Rees tied the game at 7 with 1:31 to play in the half. However, the score would not stay tied after 30, as once again, it was Taite Cattoni with the quick counter once again with 48 seconds left on a powerplay after Mitch Ogilvie took a holding penalty.

After a handful of games with third quarters being their Achilles heel, the Wings appear to have figured out how to get over that post-halftime hump. Mitch Jones joined in on the scoring with two goals to extend the lead to 10-7 for the Wings, while their defense hunkered down and startled the Knighthawks offense during the stanza, only to be beaten once by Parker Pipher after Zach Higgins original save led to the ball slowly rolling into the net. However, stop if you’ve heard this one before in this game, the Wings were able to finish the quarter off with a goal of their own to push the lead back up to 11-8, thanks to Resetarits picking up the hat trick 26 seconds after Pipher’s goal.

Like the Wings in the third, the Knighthawks finally overcame something that had gone missing over the last handful of games, and that was the lengthy runs that had carried them to make the difference during their 6-0 start. After Blaze Riorden made it 12-8 on a powerplay goal, it was Holden Cattoni did the immediate answering to get it back to a three-goal deficit. Austin Hasen finally got on the board for the first time since January 7, and then Ryan Smith and Connor Fields scored twice in 53 seconds and just like that, it was all tied up again. With 2:28 to play, Smith set up behind the net, ran back to the front of the crease, and picked the near shoulder of Higgins once again to give the Knighthawks their first lead since 3-2. But for the fourth time in the game, the Wings had the last laugh in the quarter, and once again it was very soon after a Knighthawks goal. Taite Cattoni got a shooting lane in the middle of the offensive zone to beat Rylan Hartley, and after neither team got too good of a chance at breaking the deadlock in the final two minutes, we were once again headed for overtime.

Philadelphia once again won the opening faceoff and called timeout after a long loose ball battle that nearly went in the favor of the Knighthawks, but Sam LeClair’s shot was stopped by Hartley, ensuring at least a longer overtime than in the first matchup. With a couple Zach Higgins saves and a shot off the net from both teams, it was Resetarits putting in his fourth of the game, beating Hartley on the short side. The win gets the Wings to 7-8 and keeps them in the playoff mix. The loss for Rochester gives them a 4-5 road record on the season and means that they’ll need to wait a couple more weeks for another chance to clinch a playoff berth with both Philadelphia and Halifax off this week.

Mitch Jones and Joe Resetarits shared the game-high in points with 7 each, while Taite Cattoni had 3 goals and 2 assists of his own. Zach Higgins finished with 42 saves in the win. Connor Fields had 4 goals and 2 assists for the Knighthawks, tied with 3 and 3 from Ryan Smith and 2 and 4 from Holden Cattoni to share that lead.

Toronto Rock 18 – Buffalo Bandits 7

Photo Credit: National Lacrosse League

Finding a word to describe this one was tough. As a whole, it was stunning, as it’s the first time the Bandits have lost by double digits since December 23, 2017, against Rochester, the first time they’ve lost by more than 10 since April 22, 2017, against Georgia, and, heck, the first time they’ve lost by more than 5 since April 14, 2018, against Calgary. A near-capacity crowd in Hamilton saw the hometown Rock pull out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter that was too much for the visitors to overcome the rest of the way.

Chris Cloutier scored with 13 seconds left in the quarter to prevent an opening 15 shutout, and Josh Byrne got a pair of goals to open the second to cut it to 7-3, but the Rock had answers throughout the quarter to keep the Bandits from getting closer than 4 the rest of the way, including 4 goals from Corey Small and a goal and 4 assists from Tom Schreiber in the first half alone.

A 4-0 third-quarter run for Toronto extended Toronto’s lead back to 15-6, as the Bandits were only able to muster up two more goals in the quarter thanks to Chris Cloutier and Dalton Sulver. And that would be the rest of the scoring to wrap up the game as well, as Nick Rose and a 5-minute appearance from Troy Holowchuk pitched a fourth-quarter shutout, while two more goals from Schreiber set the final score at 18-7. After the second of those goals with 5:36 to play, the game was far from over in real-time, as a clean penalty sheet in the quarter was about to not only get erased but to scrolling length, as the teams combined for 91 penalty minutes in the final five minutes as the Bandits were looking to let out some frustration and the Rock were eager to take on the additional challenge as part of what, in the end, can only be described as a bullying from Toronto.

Corey Small finished with a 5 and 5 to lead the Rock against his former team, with Schreiber one goal short of that stat line in a 9-point performance, and Dan Craig had 3 goals and 4 assists. Nick Rose finished one save short of 40 in another single-digit performance from the lead candidate for Goaltender of the Year through 18 weeks. In a second straight week of seven goals, Dhane Smith still managed a goal and 4 assists, and Josh Byrne had 2 goals and 2 assists, but no other Bandit was able to register more than 2 points. Matt Vinc was pulled twice, making only 19 saves on 31 shots against in 32:25. Devlin Shanahan made 15 saves on 21 shots in 27:35 of relief in only his second appearance of the season.

Toronto pulls ahead to the top of the East at 12-4 over the now 11-4 Bandits, but there is still one more matchup between the teams to go – a Bandits home game on April 22 to settle the season series and possibly the one seed.

Week 18 Around The League (Starting with a head-turning weekend in Metro Atlanta)

Georgia Swarm 12 – New York Riptide 7

For the second straight week, Georgia handled the Riptide with a dominant first half (this time with a 6-1 second quarter) to cruise to their third straight victory, led by a five-goal performance from Bryan Cole, who has spent most of the season playing defense primarily. Brett Dobson made 38 saves in the victory for the Swarm. More impressively, while Reilly O’Connor had 2 goals and 2 assists to lead the Riptide, the Swarm’s defense held Jeff Teat scoreless and to only 2 assists.

Georgia Swarm 17 – Halifax Thunderbirds 7

To get to their fourth straight victory and 6th in their last 7 games, Georgia traveled to Nova Scotia for their second game of the weekend and heaved away (iykyk) to a double-digit win, leading 8-2 at the half and going on an 8-0 run between the third and fourth quarters. Andrew Kew led the way with 5 goals and 5 assists for Georgia, with Shayne Jackson right behind 3 goals and 6 assists and Brendan Bomberry with 4 goals and 3 assists. After 5 goals on Friday, Bryan Cole had 5 assists on Sunday. It was a 41 save on 46 shot effort from Brett Dobson in his second win of the weekend, with Craig Wende coming in for the final five minutes in relief. Georgia is now 6-8 and now a half-game back of the now 7-8 Thunderbirds and Wings to remind everyone that they can still find themselves in the mix for the playoffs. Both Clarke Petterson and Cody Jamieson led the Thunderbirds with 2 goals and 2 assists.

San Diego Seals 14 – Calgary Roughnecks 8

San Diego finishes out the three-game season series with Calgary on top with a convincing 6-goal victory in the lone home leg of the series, improving to 11-3 to pad their lead atop the West as Calgary falls to 10-5. The trio of former Roughnecks, Wes Berg (2G 6A), Dane Dobbie (3G 2A), and Curtis Dickson (3G 1A) led the Seals, while Kevin Crowley added a goal and 5 assists. Jesse King and Kyle Waters, who each had 2 goals and an assist, were the only Roughnecks to reach 3 points in a rough night offensively.

Colorado Mammoth 11 – Las Vegas Desert Dogs 9

Vegas busted the game open with a 6-3 first quarter, but the home Mammoth were able to chip away with a 4-1 second quarter and then pace their way to a victory to return to .500 at 7-7. Eli McLaughlin led the Mammoth with 3 goals and 5 assists with Zed Williams adding 3 goals and 3 assists. Dillon Ward made 39 saves in the win, as the Mammoth hold onto the 4th seed in the West. Vegas, who now find themselves two games back of Colorado for that spot at 5-9, were led by 2 goals and 2 assists from Zack Greer and a goal and 3 assists from Rob Hellyer.

Panther City 12 – Albany FireWolves 8

Panther City bounced back from a blowout loss to San Diego the week before with some medicine in a steady 12-8 victory, led by a 5-0 run between the second quarter and the start of the third. Will Malcom (2G 2A) and Callum Crawford (4A) led Panther City in scoring while 9 different players found the back of the net. Marshall Powless had 2 goals and 3 assists to lead Albany. It was Justin Geddie getting the start this week over Doug Jamieson, stopping 34 of 46 shots in the loss, being outdueled by Nick Damude’s 32 saves on 40 shots faced. At 9-6, Panther City remains third in the West, but with two games left against Calgary, they still could find a way into the second seed if the cards fall in their favor in those matchups.

Saskatchewan Rush 12 – Vancouver Warriors 11

It was a popular upset pick this week for Vancouver to overtake the Rush for the second straight time, and after the Warriors climbed back from down 11-6 to tied at 11 at the end of regulation, it looked like the Rush may have been out of answers to get the home win, but the Rush offensive vets, who also led the team in scoring on the night, got the job done 2:06 into OT, with Robert Church (4G 3A) scoring on a goal assisted by Mark Matthews (3G 5A) and Ryan Keenan (1G 3A) to keep Saskatchewan at 6-8 and still in the playoff mix. Kyle Killen, who scored or assisted on 4 of the final 5 goals for Vancouver, led the 4-11 Warriors with 3 goals and 3 assists.

Previewing A Light Week 19

Bye weeks return in each remaining week, with this weekend being the lightest remaining with only 5 games, all on Saturday.

  • Albany FireWolves (2-11) vs Rochester Knighthawks (9-6) – 7:00 pm – While some may see this as a trap game given Albany’s record, if Rochester wants to keep pace in the East and make things easier down the stretch, and not to mention regain some confidence after a really tough road-heavy March, a convincing home victory would go a long way, as the Knighthawks will be home for each of their last 3 games this month, and this first one comes with a hat! Rochester won 14-13 in the first matchup in Albany back in December
  • Saskatchewan Rush (6-8) @ Georgia Swarm (6-8) – 7:00pm – While the loser of this matchup isn’t necessarily out of the playoff picture, a victory, especially in a potential WC race, would be huge for either team. This is the first matchup between the Rush and Swarm, the 2017 NLL Finalists since January 27, 2019.
  • Panther City (9-6) @ Calgary Roughnecks (10-5) – 9:00pm – TSN Game of the Week – As mentioned above, Calgary and Panther City are playing their season series in two of the final three weeks of the year. The Roughnecks won two of the three matchups last season.
  • Vancouver Warriors (4-11) @ Colorado Mammoth (7-7) – 9:00pm – Vancouver won their home leg of the season matchup on March 25, so they will be going into The Loud House looking for a spoiler sweep. The Wings, Thunderbirds, and Swarm will certainly be looking for the Warriors to get their 4th win in 6 games to continue to allow for a chaotic run to the playoffs.
  • San Diego Seals (11-3) @ Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 10:30 pm – San Diego won the first of the three Tsai Bowls on the season, and they will look to potentially clinch the 1 seed in their lone trip to Vegas this season with a win and Panther City win.
Photo Credit: Rochester Knighthawks/NLL
Top