Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: M. Hetzel
The Toronto Rock (13-5) visited the Buffalo Bandits (13-4) on Saturday night for the battle to determine the East division champion. There were 16,861 hungry Bandits fans on hand in Banditland just itching for the win. This was Toronto’s final game of the 2022-23 Regular season and the final home game for the Bandits. The winner would get the Number One seed throughout the playoffs. After the last game when Toronto laid a beating on the Bandits it was expected to be a classic game from start to finish. It was a tale of two halves as the first half was very defensive with only six goals scored, while the second half had 15 goals as the offensive stars showed up to the party. The game came down to the last few seconds and Matt Vinc was able to save the game with some fine saves to seal the 11 – 10 win for the Bandits. So once again the Eastern Division will have to go through Buffalo!
The first goal of the game was scored in transition with Latrell Harris (1G) coming up the floor and his bounce shot would beat Matt Vinc (44 saves) through the legs for a 1 – 0 lead for the Rock just over two minutes into the first quarter. Goaltenders and the defense for both teams took over after that as neither team could find the back of the net for the next nine minutes. With four minutes left in the first while on the power play Challen Rogers (3G, 3A) fired an overhand high to low shot from the top that went stick side increasing Toronto’s lead 2 – 0. After the first quarter of play the shots on goal were Toronto 18—Buffalo 13.
The Bandits finally got on the board while shorthanded early in the second quarter. Dhane Smith (2G, 5A) split two defenders and went in on Nick Rose and beat him over the shoulder cutting the Rock lead in half to 2 – 1. Toronto would get that one back two minutes later when Tom Schreiber (3G, 1A) received the dish from Corey Small at the top and his side arm shot around a defender beat Vinc just under the arm and the lead was back to two 3 – 1 for the Rock. After a fight between former teammates Mitch de Snoo and Steve Priolo (1A), Buffalo would score when Josh Byrne (3G, 3A) fired a low-to-low shot that hit bottom far corner and it was 3 – 2 still in favor of the Rock. Nine and a half ticked off the timer and with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker Corey Small (2G, 4A) passed to a cutting Stephen Keogh (1G, 2A) and his bounce shot beat Vinc through the legs with only four seconds left in the first half and the Rock lead was doubled 4 – 2. At the end of the first half the shots on goal still showed Toronto with a slight lead 31—27 over Buffalo.
Toronto would open the scoring in the third quarter just over two minutes in. Rogers would take a bounce shot from the outside and he beat Vinc to the short side to make it 5 – 2 for the Rock. Two minutes later while on the power play the Bandits would respond with Byrne beating Rose with a high to low shot glove side to make it 5 – 3 still in favor of Toronto. This was the first of a four-goal run by Buffalo. They’d come right back a minute later with Smith shooting from the outside and his bounce shot went short side and it was 5 – 4. The Bandits would tie it up 6:02 into the third when Chase Fraser (3G) came in off the boards and his low shot went far side inside the post. Less than a minute later Fraser would get his second in a row. Chris Cloutier (2A) would fire a shot that went into the air, Fraser picked it up with one hand and put it through the legs far side and gave Buffalo their first lead of the game at 6 – 5. Toronto responded 30 seconds later when Schreiber took a high to low shot from the top through the legs to tie the game at six. This goal gave Schreiber the record for most points by a Toronto Rock player in a season. It took only 19 seconds before Schreiber off to the left of Vinc fired a side arm shot through his legs to reestablish the Rock the lead 7 – 6. Unfortunately, right off the ensuing faceoff Kyle Buchanan (1G, 3A) got a pass from Byrne while cutting through the middle and his BTB shot beat Rose to the far side for the equalizer, and it was tied at seven’s with less than six minutes left in the third quarter. The tie lasted less than two minutes. Small took a bounce shot from the outside that hit the cross bar, bounced off Vinc’s back and over the line to regain the lead for the Rock at 8 – 7. The shots at the end of the third quarter had turned in favor of Buffalo 46—40 over Toronto.
Buffalo opened the scoring just under five minutes in the fourth quarter. Fraser came across the top and his bounce shot around his defender beat Rose to the far side giving him his hat-trick to tie the game up at eight. Toronto came right back two minutes later when Rogers beat his defender and squeezed through two other Bandits players and his twister shot went stick side for his hat-trick to make it 9 – 8 for the Rock. Just after a power play ended for the Bandits, Ian MacKay (1G, 1A) came in front of the net, faked low and went over the shoulder into the top corner to tie it up at nine with just under seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. This started their three-goal run that would give them the game and the title. Buffalo took the lead a minute later as Tehoka Nanticoke (1G, 1A) went around two defenders and went short side with an overhand shot to make it 10 – 9 for the Bandits. Buffalo scored their third and final on the night with Byrne firing a low to high shot from the restraining line that went over the shoulder giving the Bandits a two-goal lead 11 – 9 with just over four minutes left. Toronto would respond a minute later when Small got the dish from Zach Manns (2A) and his side arm shot beat Vinc off the post on the stick side closing the gap to one 11 – 10 for the Bandits. The Rock would pull Rose in favor of the extra attacker and had two top notch chances, but Vinc closed the door on good shots by Schreiber and Dan Craig in the last 30 seconds but didn’t give up the equalizer.
Buffalo would come away with the 11 – 10 win and the first seed in the Eastern division.
The Three Stars of the game were:
Dhane Smith – Buffalo Bandits: 2G, 5A
Challen Rogers – Toronto Rock: 3G, 3A
Matt Vinc – Buffalo Bandits: 44 saves
STATS:
Toronto Rock—SOG 54; Saves 49; Sv% .817%; FO 15-25; PP 1-4
Buffalo Bandits—SOG 60; Saves 44; Sv% .815%; FO 10-25; PP 1-4
NEXT UP:
The Buffalo Bandits (13-4) head to Uniondale, NY to face the Albany FireWolves (3-13) for their final game of the regular season on Saturday April 29, 2023. Game time 7:00 p.m. EST.
The Toronto Rock (13-5) closed out their season and will host the Number Three seed in the NLL playoffs. Date and time TBD.
Shawn Palmer, Toronto Rock Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©