Justin Ivey, Co-Editor
Lacrosse is Awesome©
On Friday night, the Buffalo Bandits (5-4) visited the Halifax Thunderbirds (6-3) on another NLL Marvel Superhero night. Both teams donned special jerseys for the game and were joined by many costumed fans. The defending champion Bandits led for nearly the whole game, but on the back of Ryan Benesch (5G, 1A) the Thunderbirds took their first lead of the game a few minutes into the fourth quarter and were able to hold on for the home win. Final Score: Buffalo – 12, Halifax – 14.
Chris Cloutier (2G, 1A) broke the scoring open in the first quarter after a few defensive stands from both sides. The Bandit forward launched a low sidearm shot after coming off a screen that beat Halifax starting goaltender Warren Hill (14SV). Benesch evened the score just 1:38 later after deking his defender to get one-on-one with Matt Vinc (38SV) up close. The Bandits did not allow momentum to follow. They clamped down until Dhane Smith (2G, 7A) found the net with 7:35 left in the opening quarter. Chase Fraser (2G) gave the visitors a two-goal lead under a minute later, and Kyle Buchanan (3G, 1A) scored on a powerplay with 4:16 left, stretching the lead to three. Dawson Theede (3G, 2A) had the last word though. Much to the appreciation of the hometown fans, he muscled his way to the middle before scoring with an underhand throw with 1:14 left. At the end of the first quarter, Buffalo led Halifax 4-2.
The Bandits stretched their lead all the way to 8-2 with a four-goal run to start the second quarter that spanned 9:02 of game time. Fraser popped in the first one, swimming over his defender on his dodge to the net. Smith hit a streaking Josh Byrne (2G, 6A) off the bench just over 30 seconds later and Byrne released in stride to score. Captain Steve Priolo (1G) made it three in a row with a transition goal assisted by Matt Spanger (2A). Hill was left little chance to stop the three on two shot and was replaced by Drew Hutchinson (22SV) in net. The goalie change held off the fourth unanswered goal for a couple minutes, but Smith willed his way to the net with some fancy footwork before picking the top right corner with 5:58 remaining. A five on three opportunity gave Halifax the space they needed to start coming back. Austin Shanks (2G, 7A) wasted no time walking towards the net and picking an opening to fire in a quick score. Clarke Petterson (2G, 7A) got them one goal closer, scoring with a diving goal across the crease with 2:16 left, and then Aaron Woods (2G, 1A) cut the deficit to three with his goal and 1:13 on the clock. The assist from Petterson was a beautiful underhand shovel pass to a cutting Woods in the middle. At halftime, Buffalo led Halifax 8-5.
A total of 24 minutes of penalty time was assessed in the third quarter as Halifax clawed their way back to a tie game before the quarter ended. Benesch started the scoring with his second goal of the game 3:35 in. The goal was scored as the teams played four on four and the space allowed Benesch to slip open for a quick release shot. The scoring slowed down a while, and Buffalo came out of the lull to score their only goal in the third. Buchanan set a pick for Smith and rolled to the front of the cage. Smith found him and Buchanan easily finished over the shoulder of Hutchinson. The Thunderbirds saved the fireworks for the last two and a half minutes. In 1:31 of game time, starting with a Shanks powerplay goal with 2:31 left, they stormed back to tie the game. Theede scored his second of the game with 1:25 left, rolling around the net before catching a pass to finish. With one minute left on the clock, Benesch completed his hat trick with a powerplay goal to tie the game. At the end of the third quarter, Buffalo and Halifax were tied 9-9.
Buffalo quieted the home crowd with the first goal of the fourth quarter. Byrne scored his 23rd goal of the season just 48 seconds into the game while both teams still played four on four. The lead lasted just over a minute. Petterson scored with a sidearm shot after a cross turf assist from Cody Jamieson (3A). The assist was Jamieson’s 600th of his career. After some tense back and forth action, Benesch gave the lead back to Halifax, but again the lead was short lived. Cloutier scored 48 seconds later to knot the game 11-11. A powerplay again gave Halifax an opening to get ahead. Theede was the recipient of a cross crease pass from Petterson and his quick stick easily got the ball across the line before Vinc could slide over. It still wasn’t enough to put the Bandits away. Buchanan finished his hat trick, finding the five hole with a bounce shot from outside with 4:43 left on the clock. After winning the ensuing faceoff, Halifax set up the offense and found a seam. Woods set a pick for Shanks and rolled to the crease. No defender followed and a quick flip pass turned into an easy finish for Woods. After winning the next faceoff, making Jake Withers 30-30 on the night, Benesch scored his fifth goal of the game from inside with 4:11 left. The goal would be the final of the evening. Final Score: Buffalo – 12, Halifax – 14.
Up Next:
The Halifax Thunderbirds (6-3) travel to play the Calgary Roughnecks () on Sunday, February 18 at 7:00 PM EST.
The Buffalo Bandits (5-4) will host the Albany Firewolves (6-2) on Saturday, February 24 at 7:30 PM EST.