Justin Ivey, Beat Writer New England Black Wolves
Lacrosse is Awesome
The New England Black Wolves (6-6) hosted the Buffalo Bandits (7-7) on Friday in front of 5,378 fans at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Bandits came in on looking to end a four-game losing streak, and the Black Wolves were looking to rebound after a loss in Toronto last week. Shawn Evans returned to New England for the first time since being traded for Callum Crawford just a few weeks ago. The Black Wolves were honoring military service members and first responders, and by the end of the game they needed some attention. The Bandits won every facet of the game, and with big runs in both halves, handed the Black Wolves their most lopsided loss of the season. Final Score: Buffalo-20, New England-7.
The Black Wolves started off on the right foot. Just 1:05 into the game, Stephan Leblanc (2G, 1A) came around a high screen and bounced in a goal past Buffalo goaltender Alex Buque. Off the ensuing faceoff, Vaughn Harris (4G, 4A) picked up the ground ball and scored the equalizer unassisted. Buffalo took the lead six minutes later when Mitch de Snoo (1G, 2A) scored on a fast break. With 6:56 remaining in the opening quarter, Callum Crawford (1G, 2A) tied the game with a dunk past his former teammate from behind the net. The tie was short lived. A New England penalty gave Buffalo their first power play opportunity of the night, and Jordan Durston (2G, 3A) scored just seconds in. With under a minute left in the quarter Mitch Jones (5G) scored twice on snipes from well outside. At the end of the first quarter, Buffalo led New England 5-2.
The second quarter was a defensive battle, and the game started to get a bit chippy. Both New England and Buffalo successfully lasted out man down opportunities early in the quarter. On Buffalo’s second power play opportunity of the quarter, Jones completed his hat trick with his third goal in a row. Half way through the second quarter Buffalo now had a four-goal lead. Two Buffalo scoring opportunities went to review, and both were ruled no goal. New England couldn’t capitalize on the beneficial calls and with five seconds remaining in the half, Harris scored his second on the night. At halftime, Buffalo led New England 7-2.
The Black Wolves came out from the locker rooms with a bang. Leblanc scored his second of the night only 25 seconds in. Just under two minutes later, Colton Watkinson (1G, 1A) picked a Buffalo pass and ran all the way down the turf to score, bringing the Black Wolves within three goals. That is where the good fortune ended. Buffalo demolished the Black Wolves for the rest of the quarter, scoring 10 unanswered goals. Even when the Black Wolves had a power play opportunity, the Bandits found a way to score a short-handed goal. After the first four goals of the run, Aaron Bold was pulled in favor of Doug Jamieson, but he allowed four goals on seven shots in just 3:46 before Bold was put back in. The 10 Buffalo goals came from eight different Bandit players. The fifth of the run was Shawn Evans’ (2G, 4A) first goal against New England since being traded. Dhane Smith (2G, 6A) and Jones both had two goals. At the end of the third quarter, Buffalo led New England 17-4.
The fourth quarter was a fist fight. With the game well out of hand, New England took nine penalties, discouraging any chance of a comeback. Buffalo took seven penalties, most in response to small skirmishes being started by Black Wolves players. With five seconds left in the third, Adam Bomberry was assessed a five-minute major for an illegal crosscheck, and the Bandits scored two goals on the power play to open the quarter. Evans scored first, followed by Harris with his fourth of the night. Kevin Crowley’s (3G, 1A) goal with 7:08 remaining ended a scoreless period of nearly 21 minutes for the Black Wolves. The goal also brought Crowley’s streak of consecutive games with a goal to 31. But, Zac Reid () got the Buffalo lead back to 15 with 5:14 remaining. Crowley scored the last two goals of the game, completing his eighth hat trick of the season to bring us to our final score. Final Score: Buffalo-20, New England-7.
Up Next:
The New England Black Wolves (6-6) travel to play the Georgia Swarm (6-7) on Saturday, March 24 at 7:05 PM EST.
The Buffalo Bandits (7-7) host the New England Black Wolves on Saturday, March 31 at 7:30 PM EST.