Photo Credit: Chris Vale
Chris Vale, Beat Writer Buffalo Bandits
Lacrosse is Awesome
The Buffalo Bandits (1-4) went north to Air Canada Centre to face their Eastern Division Rivals the Toronto Rock (3-1). Unfortunately for Buffalo their problems are still ongoing with poor showings from their starting net-minder Anthony Cosmo and little productivity from some of their scoring leaders. The entire game was controlled by Torontoas they would outscore the Bandits in each of the four quarters. Final Score: Toronto 18—Buffalo 10.
Toronto is a new look team with some solid veterans. They’ve got Nick Rose starting in net as Brandon Miller is still recovering from surgery and they are young and fast on both sides of the ball. Buffalo still has a solid core of players from last years’ championship run but Anthony Cosmo looks aging in net and was pulled at 4:32 in the second, once Toronto who came out on fire and went up 7-2. Davide DiRuscio set up between the pipes and made some solid saves but the Rocks offense was too much for the Bandits in this game and brought them the 18-10 victory over their Eastern Conference Rivals.
For Toronto, an American player from Long Island stood out the most, Tommy Schreiber who showed his sticks skills and athleticism with ever increasing knowledge of the indoor game. Schreiber looked like a Rookie of the Year candidate in last night’s game. Tommy got his first NLL hat trick and had a highlight reel goal; recorded seven assists; and had a solid preference for someone in their first ever box lacrosse season, not to mention his first in the big leagues. Stephan Leblanc’s nine-point night and Brett Hickey’s seven points showed fans why they are two of the top forwards in the league. While Mike Macdonald; Turner Evans; and Dan Linter are great young core players and should remind Toronto fans of what the Leaf’s are doing with their young guns in the NHL. On defense Brodie Merrill is still one of the best in the league and Jesse Gamble is a speedster both should help rookies Latrell Harris and Challen Rogers on the back end. The Rock’s defense was quick to get players on the Bandits top scorers and quick to double team the ball.
For the Bandits offense Ryan Benesch had one of his quieter nights with just three points; and Mark Steenhuis with six. Alexander Kedoh Hill two goals and one assist was fast and quick in on both ends of the floor and was one of the better Bandits in this game; while Forward Craig England had two goals and has been looking comfortable in the Bandits offense.
Game Stats:
Buffalo: 10 G; 48 SOG; 60 SGA; Saves 42; SV% .700; LB 72; Face-offs 12-32; FOW% .375; PPG 2-3
Toronto: 18 G; 60 SOG; 48 SGA; Saves 38; SV% .791; LB 92; Face-offs 20-32; FOW% .625; PPG 2-8
For the Toronto Rock, they will be on the road in Calgary going up against the Roughnecks (3-1) on February 12th. Meanwhile, Buffalo will have a bye week and be back on the floor in New England (2-3) February 17, 2017.
Chris Vale, Beat Writer Buffalo Bandits
Lacrosse is Awesome