Chris Vale, Beat Writer Buffalo Bandits
Lacrosse Is Awesome
On Saturday, February 10 the Buffalo Bandits (6-3) were back in Bandit Land hosting the defending champion Georgia Swarm (3-4). This would be Buffalo’s second game in as many nights, as Friday they beat New England on the road to take first place in the East Division. The Swarm have had a difficult start to the season, often having trouble scoring. It is quite unusual for a team that set historic marks with their offense just last year. Buffalo took control before the half and behind a stellar night from goaltender Zach Higgins (54 SV) they would come out victorious. Final Score: Georgia-9, Buffalo-18
Nick Weiss (1G, 2A) started the night off with a goal 2:31 into the game, giving Buffalo the early lead. Georgia’s Alex Crepinsek (1G) answered just 34 seconds later to tie it up. But, Buffalo’s chemistry that has had them on such a hot streak, kicked in early. Rookie phenom Josh Byrne (3G, 3A) scored two goals sandwiched around a tally from Dhane Smith (2G, 2A) and with 4:41 remaining in the first quarter, Buffalo found themselves ahead 4-1. Jesse King (2G, 1A) was able to cut the deficit to two with 20 seconds remaining in the quarter. At the end of the first quarter, Buffalo led Georgia 4-2.
Georgia was not able to take any momentum from the goal late in the first quarter, and Buffalo would come out hot. In the first eight minutes, the Bandits would score six goals to open an eight-goal lead. Smith started things off 35 seconds in, and off the next faceoff Liam Patten (1G) scored his second NLL goal. The run also included goals from Ethan Schott (1G, 1A), Jordan Durston (2G, 5A), Callum Crawford (3G, 3A) and Vaughn Harris (1G, 1A). Georgia was finally able to get a good opportunity on the power play and Randy Staats (2G) halted the run. Crawford came back on the next possession with a beautiful goal to regain the eight-goal lead, before Miles Thompson (1G, 3A) scored with 3:12 remaining to bring us to halftime. At the half, Buffalo led Georgia 11-4.
Again, Buffalo was able to start off the third quarter quickly as Byrne completed his hat trick scoring just 24 seconds in. He then assisted on the next Buffalo goal scored by Mitch Jones (1G, 6A) three minutes later. Staats, still trying to get the Swarm offense going, scored 17 seconds after, but right off the next faceoff, Chase Fraser (1G, 1A) answered. Continuing the quick flurry, King scored for Georgia only 24 seconds after that. Almost six minutes of scoreless lacrosse followed, until Lyle Thompson (2G, 2A) scored with 4:56 remaining to get the Buffalo lead back down to seven. At the end of the third, Buffalo led Georgia 14-7.
For the third consecutive quarter, Buffalo scored a goal within the first minute to start the fourth. Crawford netted this one 49 seconds in and Durston quickly followed it up with another 45 seconds later. Every minute that went by, the game seemed further out of reach for Georgia. 5:54 in, Lyle Thompson ran towards the crease for an unassisted score, but Buffalo came back with two goals. Craig England (1G, 1A) scored with 7:08 remaining, and then the game remained scoreless until Thomas Hoggarth (1G) scored with 44 seconds left on the clock. Kiel Matisz (1G) would score one more for Georgia on a power play with 24 seconds left, but it was too little too late. Final Score: Georgia-9, Buffalo-18.