Justin Ivey, Co-Editor
Lacrosse is Awesome©
The Buffalo Bandits (8-6) quest for a four-peat has reached overdrive in the regular season. Coming into last night’s game in San Diego against the hometown San Diego Seals (6-8), the Bandits had won three games in a row. After a tough start to the season, Buffalo has been clicking on both sides of the ball during this stretch. With the streak, they now find themselves in the middle of the playoff pack. San Diego, on the other hand, is dancing on the ledge.
It looked like the Seals had the Bandits on the ropes. With 7:36 left in the game, Ben McIntosh (3G, 1A) completed his hat trick to put San Diego up four in a low-scoring, physical battle. To that point, Christopher Origlieri (9GA, 41SV) had allowed just four goals and showed no signs of slowing down. Buffalo didn’t back off. Matt Vinc (8GA, 26SV) locked in late, and the Bandits surged as time dwindled. With under a minute to play, Dhane Smith (3G, 3A) tied the game, and in overtime, he stamped the comeback with the winner. Final Score: Buffalo Bandits – 9, San Diego Seals – 8.
The opening minutes set a physical tone that carried throughout the game. Fourteen penalty minutes were assessed in the first quarter, and both teams capitalized once with the advantage. Buffalo struck first. Seconds after a four-on-four expired, Tehoka Nanticoke (2G) had a shot blocked by Origlieri, recovered his own rebound, and reset the offense. The ball came back to him in front of the crease, and after a hard fake, he buried the opening goal. San Diego answered within a minute as McIntosh stepped into a shot off a line change and fired a cannon past Vinc. Scoring slowed after that and didn’t resume until under five minutes remained. On a power play, McIntosh dunked a goal from behind the net after a crisp feed from Wes Berg (2G, 2A). At the end of the first quarter, San Diego led Buffalo 2-1.
Penalties slowed in the second quarter, but Buffalo used the man advantage to tie the game. Kyle Buchanan (1G, 3A) quick-sticked a dart from Josh Byrne (1G, 6A) as his momentum carried him behind the net. San Diego didn’t respond as quickly as in the first quarter, but they held Buffalo scoreless for the remainder of the half while Berg took over. His first goal came with 8:26 left, an overhand snipe through traffic. With 2:04 remaining, Tre Leclaire (4A) found him again in the middle, and Berg finished with another overhand bouncer. At halftime, San Diego led Buffalo 4-2.
The third quarter opened slowly, with over nine minutes passing before the first goal. Ari Steenhuis (1G) finally broke through, running the floor alone in transition and picking the top corner glove side with 6:18 remaining. Just 23 seconds later, Zach Currier (2G, 1A) added another, planting his feet and firing top shelf to extend the lead to four. Smith finally ended Buffalo’s scoring drought of more than 21 minutes with 4:31 left, dancing to the crease on the power play and slipping a high-to-low shot that bounced off Origlieri’s knee and trickled in. Any momentum was short-lived. Currier answered again with a sidearm shot from a similar spot, restoring the four-goal cushion. At the end of the third quarter, San Diego led Buffalo 7-3.
Byrne helped Buffalo start the fourth on the right foot, scoring unassisted 5:54 in after chasing down his own rebound and finishing at the crease. McIntosh responded for San Diego just over a minute later, quickly releasing a sidearm shot off a strong feed from Berg to push the lead back to four with 7:36 remaining.
Then the game flipped.
Joe Resetarits (1G) started the comeback, quick-sticking a pass from Smith at the crease with 5:25 left. After a tense stretch of nearly two minutes, Clay Scanlan (1G) executed a clean pick-and-roll with Byrne, received the flip pass, and dove into the crease for another goal. Nanticoke followed with an in-close finish to cut the deficit to one with 1:02 remaining, as San Diego began to unravel. Buffalo won the faceoff and called timeout with 59.7 seconds left. With the extra attacker on the floor, Smith stepped into a sidearm shot and tied the game with 44 seconds remaining. At the end of the fourth quarter, Buffalo and San Diego were tied 8-8.
Both teams had opportunities in overtime, but Buffalo carried the momentum. Just under four minutes into the extra frame, Smith jab-stepped to the middle, found space, and fired the game-winning goal. Final Score: Buffalo Bandits – 9, San Diego Seals – 8.
Up Next:
The Buffalo Bandits (8-6) travel to play the Saskatchewan Rush on Saturday, March 28 at 9:00 PM EDT.
The San Diego Seals (6-8) have a week off before traveling to play the Toronto Rock on Saturday, April 4 at 7:00 PM EDT.