Christopher Crane, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©
Featured Image Photo Credit: Evan Bernstein
In Week Nine action, the Buffalo Bandits (6-2) on a doubleheader weekend took on the Philadelphia Wings Friday night and then traveled to the Nassau Coliseum Saturday night January 28, 2023 where they would take on the New York Riptide (1-5). The first half saw both teams jockeying back forth with scores and it would be 7-7 going into halftime.
But the third quarter of play was the turning point of the game and in favor of the Bandits as they would outscore the Riptide 7-3. They’d also add two more scores in the fourth and shutdown the Riptide’s offense to cruise to a 16-10 win.
The Riptide would get on the board first when Brent Noseworthy (1g) would find the back of the net at 11:46 of the quarter. New York would go up 2-0 on another score this time from Larson Sundown (2g, 1a) on a power play opportunity at the 10:10 mark. The Bandits would find the back of the net on a power play opportunity of their own and Dhane Smith (4g, 7a) would make it a 2-1 game. It would be a back and forth battle of defense for six minutes of play before New York’s Jeff Teat (3g, 4a) would be able to sneak one past Buffalo’s netminder Matt Vinc to put the Riptide up 3-1. Buffalo’s Ian Mackay (4g, 2a) would net his first of four on the night in the closing minute of the first to make it a 3-2 game at the end one.
Buffalo would tally the first pair of scores in the second from Tehoka Nanticoke (2g, 3a) capitalizing on a powerplay opportunity at 13:32 and teammate Nick Weiss (1g) netting his score just 20 seconds later to give the Bandits a 4-3 lead. New York would tie it at 4-4 on a score from Connor Kearnan (1g, 4a). Buffalo answered back when MacKay netted his second of the night and Dhane Smith (4g, 7a) netting his first of four on the night at 8:45 of the quarter giving the Bandits a 6-4 lead. New York tied it back up at 6-6 with 3:56 to go. Reilly O’Connor (1g, 4a) notched the first and Teat the second. But the Bandits took the lead once more on a goal from Brandon Robinson (3g, 4a) to make it a 7-6 game and 1:55 in the half. With 56 seconds on the ticker, Sundown was left all alone on the crease, got a cross crease feed from Teat to find the inside post to make it a 7-7 game going into halftime.
The third quarter would see the Bandits controlling the tempo of the game and they would outscore the Riptide 7-3. Getting things started for Buffalo was Robinson as he would tally the first two in the frame giving him a hat trick on the night as well as giving the Bandits a 9-7 lead. New York would get one back to make it a 9-8 game and Tyler Digby (2g, 2a) would net his first of two in the quarter. But Buffalo tallied off another two with MacKay netting a hat trick, and teammate Matt Spanger (2g) following up less than minute later with his first score of the night making it an 11-8 game. The Riptide got one back when Teat found the back of the net at 6:20 of the quarter giving him a hat trick on the night making it an 11-9 game. Buffalo’s Smith also got in on the hat trick train as he would score his third of the night at 5:55 of the frame to give the Bandits back their three goal lead making it 12-9. But New York would answer back just over a minute later with Digby netting his second of the night at 4:46 making it a 12-10 game. The Bandits would add two more scores in the third when Nanticoke would capitalize on another power play opportunity and Spanger netting the second making it a 14-10 game at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was mostly a stalemate for both teams with the Bandits being the only ones to score. They would capitalize twice on power play opportunities with MacKay and Smith tallying the only two scores of the quarter giving the Buffalo Bandits a 16-10 win over the New York Riptide.
STATS:
Buffalo Bandits—SOG 47; FO 18-30; PP 5-7; Saves 42; Sv% .808%
New York Riptide—SOG 52; FO 12-30; PP 1-4; Saves 31; Sv% .659%
NEXT UP:
The Buffalo Bandits (6-2) will play host to the Rochester Knighthawks (6-1) at Key Bank Center on Saturday February 4, 2023, game time 7:30 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the action on ESPN+. Fans in Canada can see the game on TSN.ca or the TSN app.
The New York Riptide (1-5) will head north to face the Toronto Rock (5-2) at First Ontario Centre on Saturday February 4, 2023, game time 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans in the USA can see the game on ESPN+. This is the Game of the Week for fans in Canada so they can see the game on TSN.
Christopher Crane, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome©