Chris Vale, Beat Writer Buffalo Bandits
Lacrosse is Awesome
Saturday, February 24 was Alumni Night at the Key Bank Center in Buffalo. Over two dozen past players and staff were honored prior to the game and the current Bandits payed homage by sporting the flashy throwback jerseys. The coaching staff probably wished they could’ve dressed some of those former players, as the Rochester Knighthawks (5-6) handily beat the Buffalo Bandits (6-4) in front of the raucous crowd of 15,302. The third win in a row for the Knighthawks, ended the Bandit’s four-game win streak. Final Score: Rochester-17, Buffalo-10.
The first quarter started off slow, as is usually expected in this rivalry game that has been low scoring historically. Just over seven minutes passed before Cody Jamieson (2G, 5A) came around a screen and fired a bounce shot past Buffalo goaltender Alex Buque. Rochester struck next on a power play opportunity. Rookie Austin Shanks (2G) quick-sticked a Jamieson pass from the crease and increased the lead to two with 5:10 remaining. Buffalo had a power play opportunity late in the first quarter, but Rochester was the team that scored. Josh Currier (1G, 2A) cut behind his man and caught a beautiful pass from Joe Resetarits (3G, 11A) on the doorstep, finishing with ease. The goal came with just 2:46 left in the quarter. Resetarits notched an assist on all three Rochester goals and his dominance was a theme for the night. At the end of the first quarter, Rochester led Buffalo 3-0.
Rochester continued to lay the hammer down early in the second quarter, as Buffalo struggled to solve Knighthawks goaltender Matt Vinc. Resetarits scored his first goal of the game on the power play just 24 seconds in. Just over a minute later, Kyle Jackson (5G, 4A) fired a laser from up top and the goal ended Buque’s night. Zach Higgins entered the game to replace him, but only 46 seconds after the change, Cory Vitarelli (1G) scored on the pick and roll. The goal came on the second shot that Higgins faced. Just over a minute later, Resetarits caught a cross turf pass and fired a laser for his second of the quarter. With just 3:50 seconds gone in the second quarter, Rochester had a 7-0 lead, and Resetarits had a hand in each one. Buffalo finally broke the drought 5:12 in when Mitch Jones (1G, 2A) scored glove side high on the power play, but they could not string two goals together. Rochester and Buffalo would go back and forth for the rest of the half. Under a minute after the Jones goal, Jackson scored his second of the quarter diving into the crease. It took four minutes for Buffalo to answer. Dhane Smith (1G, 2A) bulled his way towards the net and scored shooting side arm around his defender. Rochester again responded quickly. Eric Fannell (2G) scored a mere 42 seconds later. Mitch de Snoo (1G) found himself one on one with Vinc 40 seconds later and made the score 9-2. It took Rochester under 30 seconds to get the lead back to eight as Fannell scored his second of the quarter. Jordan Durnston (3G) found the net with 2:45 remaining, but Jackson completed his first half hat trick with 1:27 on the clock to bring us to halftime. At this point, Resetarits had 10 points on the 11 Rochester goals. At halftime, Rochester led Buffalo 11-4.
Rochester extended the lead even further with two goals in the first few minutes of the third quarter. Jake Withers (1G) scored unassisted just 1:55 in and just over a minute later, Jamieson scored his hat trick goal. Durston provided a quick spark for Buffalo with two straight power play goals. With 5:42 remaining in the third, Rochester led 13-6. Rochester responded with two of their own power play goals, as penalties started to amass because of frustration. Jackson scored both, and Restarits assisted on both. Now through three quarters, Resetarits had 12 points and whispers started that he could beat the single game points record held by Mark Steenhuis (17 on February 14, 2009). With 30 seconds left, Shanks took a penalty shot, but could not beat Higgins one on one. At the end of the third quarter, Rochester led Buffalo 15-6.
Buffalo needed a miracle to catch up and started on the right foot in the fourth. Callum Crawford (1G, 1A) scored 4:13 in, but a minute later Resetarits scored on the power play to get the lead back to nine. Shanks scored next, and the assist from Resetarits put his point total at 14 on the night. That would be as high as it got. Buffalo ended the game on a three-goal run, but it was too little, too late. Vaughn Harris (2G, 1A) scored the first two, and Craig England (1G) scored the third with 3:20 remaining. Final Score: Rochester-17, Buffalo-10.
Up Next:
The Rochester Knighthawks (5-6) host the Georgia Swarm (4-5) on Saturday, March 10 at 7:30 PM EST.
The Buffalo Bandits (6-4) travel to play the Colorado Mammoth (5-3) on Saturday, March, 3 at 9:00 PM EST.