Dhane Smith capped his hat trick with the overtime game winner and the Buffalo Bandits erased a four-goal, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the San Diego Seals 9-8 at Pechanga Arena on Saturday.

The Bandits (8-6) won their fourth consecutive game despite having scoring droughts of 15:08, 21:48 and 10:25. Josh Byrne had a game-high seven points to eclipse 700 career points, Smith tallied six points and the Bandits scored five consecutive goals to claw back after trailing 8-4 with just over five minutes remaining in regulation. 

The Bandits delivered their own edition of March Madness as Smith was held scoreless until 4:31 remained the third quarter and Byrne didn’t score until 5:54 into the fourth quarter. 

Buffalo had just three goals entering the fourth quarter with all of them having come on the power play. The Bandits didn’t score a 5-on-5 goal until Byrne’s tally in the final quarter.

Trailing 7-3 in the final quarter, Joe Resetarits kickstarted a late five-goal burst for the Bandits with his first since he was acquired via trade from Philadelphia. Clay Scanlan brought the deficit to two and Tehoka Nanticoke’s second of the game cut the Seals’ lead to 8-7 with 1:02 to play. 

Connor Farrell won a faceoff against Trevor Baptiste – who entered with the highest faceoff win percentage in the NLL – and head coach John Tavares immediately called timeout with 59.7 seconds left. Smith tied the game with Matt Vinc on the bench for the extra attacker on the floor to make it 8-8 with 44 seconds remaining. Smith went on to score the overtime winner 3:59 into the extra quarter. 

Dhane Smith wins it in overtime‼️#LetsGoBandits | @NLL pic.twitter.com/BUJeDrH1Ki

— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) March 22, 2026

The Seals received at least one point from 11 players despite leading goal scorer Tre Leclaire – who entered with 27 goals – being held scoreless. Ben McIntosh recorded a hat trick, Wesley Berg scored a pair and goaltender Christopher Origlieri made 41 saves. 

Bandits defenseman Mitch de Snoo set a new single-game career-high with 20 loose ball recoveries along with three blocked shots and two created turnovers. Matt Vinc made 36 saves for the Bandits while Steve Priolo had nine loose balls and four blocked shots.

The Bandits scored only twice in the first half despite Nanticoke opening the scoring 3:33 into the first quarter on the power play. Both Bandits goals were on the power play as Kyle Buchanan ended a scoring drought of 15:08 to tie the contest at 2-2 3:41 into the second quarter.  

There were 10 total penalties – six from San Diego and four from Buffalo – in the first half as the Bandits were unable to establish a rhythm.  

There were seven penalties in the first quarter and the Bandits were shorthanded for nearly four minutes as Priolo – who played in his 250th career game –  was awarded a dead ball foul and a slashing penalty at the 10:20 mark.  

McIntosh scored both goals for the Seals in the opening stanza,including one during Priolo’s double minora, nd Berg had back-to-back tallies as the Seals carried a 4-2 lead into halftime.

The Bandits’ scoring woes continued into the second half as both teams went without a goal for the opening 8:42 of the third quarter until the Seals extended their lead to 6-2 with two goals 23 seconds apart.  

Smith cut the deficit to 6-3 on the power play to end a scoreless drought that spanned 21:48 from the 11:19 mark of the second quarter to the 4:31 point of the third quarter.  

The Bandits closed the fourth quarter with four goals in 4:41 to set up Smith, who finished off one of the wildest comebacks in the NLL this season.

Bandits shuffle the lineup against San Diego 

The Bandits made several lineup changes as Ian MacKay – who missed the previous two games after sustaining an injury against the Saskatchewan Rush on Feb. 27 – returned to the lineup. Defenseman Dylan Robinson slotted back in after being out last game against the Colorado Mammoth due to injury and rookie Carter Coffey played in his second game.

MacKay had one point while Dylan Robinson had four loose ball recoveries.

Up next  

The Bandits continue their road stretch with their second matchup against the Saskatchewan Rush on Saturday, March 28 at 9 p.m.