Justin Ivey, Correspondent New England Black Wolves
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Bill Wippert
The Buffalo Bandits (13-4) hosted the New England Black Wolves (8-9) on Saturday night in front of 16,559 fans. The second matchup between these two East division rivals was almost a mirror image of their first matchup, a 15-5 win for the Bandits at New England. This time Buffalo doubled up on the Black Wolves and won the game easily, 12-6. Nine goals were scored in a fast paced first quarter, but only nine goals were scored over the next three as both teams tried to put runs together and lock down on defense. Buffalo benefited from a rotation of scorers as nine different players combined for their 12 goals. New England struggled to find offensive consistency, going just 1-7 on power play opportunities. With the win, and the Georgia loss to Philadelphia this weekend, Buffalo has clinched the first seed in the East and best record in the league, and will host the Black Wolves again in two weeks for the first-round matchup. Final Score: New England-6, Buffalo-12.
The first quarter score sheet was crowded with goals. So many, that the first quarter goal total was equal to the goal total from the following three quarters. Dhane Smith (1G, 4A) opened the flood gates just 30 seconds in, finding an open lane towards the net down the left lane to give the home team the first tally of the evening. New England’s Tyler Digby (2G) was able to answer just under two minutes later doing work on the inside as he has become known for. Josh Byrne (1G, 3A) continued the back and forth scoring, running in unassisted and beating Black Wolves’ netminder Doug Jamieson. The first man advantage of the evening was awarded to New England after an illegal substitution call, and Callum Crawford (1G, 2A) needed just 23 seconds to bury the equalizer. Tied 2-2 after five minutes of play, Buffalo was first to put together a run. Thomas Hoggarth (1G, 2A) scored with 5:55 off the clock, and on the ensuing faceoff, Chase Fraser (1G) scooped up the ground ball and ran it all the way in for the unassisted goal. A scoreless drought of almost five minutes followed, until Corey Small (3G, 1A) scored on the power play putting the Bandits up 5-2 with under five to play. New England fought back. Specifically, Joe Resetarits (2G) scored two in the final four minutes to get New England back within one goal. At the end of one quarter, Buffalo led New England 5-4.
A late first quarter penalty on Digby meant the Bandits started the second with a man advantage. 1:13 in, Nick Weiss (1G, 1A) scored on an assist from Ian MacKay (1G, 2A). Just over five and a half minutes later, Chris Cloutier (2G) increased the Bandits lead to three goals. The first seven Buffalo goals were all scored by different players. Just over halfway through the quarter, Digby ended the scoring drought with another goal from the middle of the zone, but Small increased the Bandit lead back to three with 6:38 remaining. New England had a chance to get back within two with a late powerplay opportunity but could not anything past Buffalo goaltender Matt Vinc. At halftime, Buffalo led New England 8-5.
The third quarter had more penalties than goals. Four penalties, two on each team, and none of them led to a goal. Two Buffalo penalties even gave the Black Wolves a five on three opportunity that came up empty. Dave Emala (1G, 1A) mustered the only New England goal of the quarter 26 seconds in to bring the score to 8-6, but Cloutier’s second goal of the night 3:07 in brought it back to three. Even with the advantages, neither team would tally another for the remainder of the quarter. At the end of three quarters, Buffalo led New England 9-6.
Any chance of a New England comeback quickly diminished. Small scored his hat trick goal 32 seconds in and off the ensuing faceoff, Ethan O’Connor (1G) scored to quickly bring the lead to five goals. Even with the full quarter, and two power play opportunities, New England couldn’t find the net. The only other goal of the game was scored by MacKay on an empty net with 1:13 left on the clock. Buffalo dominated the second half, outscoring New England 4-1 to hang on for the win. Final Score: New England-6, Buffalo-12.
Up Next:
The New England Black Wolves (8-9) travel to play the Rochester Knighthawks (6-11) on Saturday, April 27 at 8:00 PM EST.
The Buffalo Bandits (13-4) travel to play the San Diego Seals (10-7) on Saturday, April 27 at 10:00 PM EST.
Justin Ivey, Correspondent New England Black Wolves
Lacrosse is Awesome©