Di Miller, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Bill Wippert
On Saturday December 28, 2019 the Halifax Thunderbirds (3-0) headed down to Buffalo to face their North Division rivals the Bandits (2-1) at KeyBank Center. The Bandits drew the most fans in the league this weekend in their game last night boasting 13,576 in total. But the Halifax offense coupled with amazing net minding; and a total collapse by Buffalo allowing a nine-goal run in the second and third, was too much for them to overcome and the Thunderbirds would go on to win their third in a row. Final Score: Halifax 15—Buffalo 10.
The Bandits got two quick ones in the first, Josh Byrne (3g, 2a); and Dhane Smith (2g, 3a) would get them on the board in the first three minutes. It took four minutes before either team could penetrate the defensive walls of the keepers of the cage when Halifax would open up with a four-goal run started off by Captain Cody Jamieson (3g, 2a) at the 7:18 mark; and they’d see Eric Fannell (1g, 1a); Clarke Petterson (1g, 2a); and Jamieson to close out the run at the 11:55 mark. Buffalo transition player Ian MacKay (1g, 1a) would stop the run with 1:54 in the first; and Nick Weiss (1g) would close it out 31 seconds later to tie it at four a piece at the end of one.
Halifax would control the second, shutting out Buffalo 6-0; and take that momentum into the third. The Bandits couldn’t find their offense in the second and the defense was non-existent. The Thundebirds would see two goals from Mike Burke (2g, 6a); one from Austin Shanks (2g, 1a); two from Ryan Benesch (3g, 3a) both on man-up situations; and Jamieson would notch his hatrick at the 13:02 mark in the frame. Buffalo had only 10 shots on goal during the second. At the end of two, the Thunderbirds led the Bandits by the score of 10-4.
The Thunderbirds took their run into the third with Benesch notching his hat-trick at the 3:38 mark; Graeme Hossack (1g, 1a) gettig in on the action; and Kyle Jackson (1g, 4a) closing out the run. The Bandits would get their lone goal from Chris Cloutier (2g, 2a) at 9:14 to finally stop the barrage. Unfortunately Halifax answered back to erase that goal with Shanks second on the night two minutes later and still an astounding lead for the visiting team. Score at the end of three: Halifax 14—Buffalo 5.
Buffalo came back strong in the fourth with their powerhouse shooters and were able to hold Halifax to only one goal. They started it off with another from Smith at the 2:21 mark. The respective net-minders held tough for seven full minutes of back and forth lacrosse before Stephen Keogh broke the scoring drought for Halifax at the 9:23 mark for their last goal on the night. The Bandits chipped away at the lead scoring four more including two more from Byrne; one from Quinn Powless (1g); and another from Cloutier in the last 49 seconds, unfortunately for Buffalo they couldn’t overcome that nine goal run in the second and third and would fall to the mighty ‘Birds. Final Score: Halifax 15—Buffalo 10.
“Halifax had a great game, they shot the ball really well and capitalized on pretty much all their opportunities,” said Bandits head coach John Tavares. “We just didn’t shoot all that well. I don’t think it was because of a lack of effort, it was because a lack of skill.”
“At times our offense looked a little bit rough,” said Bandits forward Dhane Smith. “Having two weeks off doesn’t make it easy. But we need to do things outside the floor time we have together to get better. At the end of the day, we just need to be better as a team and luckily it’s only the second game of the season.”
“Withers is one of the best faceoff guys in the world,” Tavares said of the draw man for the T-Birds. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a guy that can match his skill at the circle. We just don’t want to get scored on off the faceoff, so we pretty much concede the possession to them.”
“You can see the resiliency of this team at the end of the game,” said Bandits transition man Ian MacKay. “We could have just folded up shop and gave up, but until the last buzzer goes you fight no matter which way the game’s going”
TEAM STATS:
Halifax—50 SOG; 33 SOFF; 102 LB; 22-29 FO; 3-7 PP; 16 PIM
Buffalo—49 SOG; 23 SOFF; 72 LB; 7-29 FO; 4-5 PP; 20 PIM
GOALIE STATS:
Halifax Warren Hill—49 SOG; 39 Saves; 10 GA; .799 Sv%
Buffalo Matt Vinc—40 SOG; 27 Saves; 13 GA; .675 Sv%
Buffalo Doug Buchan—10 SOG; 8 Saves; .800 Sv%
Former Goaltender of the Year Matt Vinc was pulled in favor of Dave Buchan twice during the contest. Vinc saw a total of 46:52 in net time and Buchan was in net for 13:08 minutes
UP NEXT:
Halifax (3-0) has a bye-week and will host the Colorado Mammoth (2-1) on Saturday January 11, 2020, at Scotiabank Centre in Nova Scotia, game time 6:00 p.m. EST.
The Buffalo Bandits (2-1) also have a bye-week and will head south to face the Georgia Swarm (2-1) on Saturday January 11, 2020 at the Infinite Energy Arena in Atlanta, game time 7:00 p.m. EST.
Di Miller, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©