After back-to-back one-goal losses, the Buffalo Bandits are back in the win column.
Thanks to 11 Buffalo players notching a point, including Matt Vinc scoring his second career goal, the Bandits clinched a home playoff game with a 15-10 victory over the Colorado Mammoth on Saturday night at Ball Arena.
Josh Byrne had a game-high 10 points (2+8) while Ian MacKay and Kyle Buchanan each had a hat trick. Dhane Smith had seven points (2+5).
Buffalo is now guaranteed to open the playoffs – and its quest for a third straight title – at KeyBank Center. The Bandits sit atop the NLL standings with two regular-season games remaining, including Fan Appreciation Night at home next Saturday.
The Bandits never trailed the Mammoth, taking a permanent lead when Smith charged through the offensive zone and opened the scoring with 10:05 remaining in the first quarter. Buchanan followed with his first goal, jab stepping past his defender and shooting it past Mammoth goaltender Dillon Ward. Four minutes later, Byrne scored his first of two goals in the game to put Buffalo up 3-0.
Dhane found his lane! 👀#LetsGoBandits | @dhanesmith92 pic.twitter.com/3EMFYtxrpd
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) April 6, 2025
The Mammoth were held off the board until 44 seconds remained in the quarter, thanks in part to 12 saves from Vinc, who helped keep a high-profile Colorado offense at bay.
Clay Scanlan scored 3:37 into the second quarter to bring the Bandits’ lead back to three goals. Colorado answered, to which Scanlan scored his second goal of the game in response.
Clay Scanlan put in the WORK to score this one. 😤#LetsGoBandits | @NLL pic.twitter.com/2mJRnUzlK3
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) April 6, 2025
Colorado closed out the first half with back-to-back goals to bring the score to 5-4 at halftime. The Mammoth tied the game less than three minutes into the second half, but the Bandits stood tall and refused to let them take control in their own arena, with Chase Fraser scoring to take back the lead.
Chase Fraser unleashed! 🚀#LetsGoBandits | @The_Fraze95 pic.twitter.com/RCbybEqDcP
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) April 6, 2025
Colorado came back two minutes later and scored to make it 6-6, but three consecutive goals from Buchanan, Smith and MacKay extended the lead out to three goals for the third time on Saturday, making it 9-6.
Following a Colorado goal with 1:58 left in the quarter, the Bandits began to run away with the game.
MacKay scored his second and third goals within a 1:20 span between the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, while Byrne added his second of the game to make the score 12-7. Dylan Robinson made it 13-7, scoring for the second consecutive game.
Good luck stopping 4️⃣#LetsGoBandits | @IanMacKay_94 pic.twitter.com/EaWHBoVuaC
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) April 6, 2025
After four consecutive goals by Buffalo, Colorado broke up the scoring run but couldn’t string together anything as Buchanan scored 39 seconds after, notching his fifth hat-trick of the season.
Colorado scored back-to-back goals to make it 14-10, however, the game was unreachable and Vinc put the finishing touches on the game, scoring with 56 seconds to go and capping off a 32-save performance.
The first round of the @NLL Playoffs goes through Banditland! 😤#LetsGoBandits pic.twitter.com/wrH2uwjmA3
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) April 6, 2025