Rochester, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bandits are beginning their quest for a third straight championship, yet they still maintain their “one game, 15 minutes at a time” mindset.
This approach paid dividends for the Bandits en route to a 15-7 win over the Rochester Knighthawks in their season opener on Saturday at Blue Cross Arena. The Bandits outscored the Knighthawks 8-1 in the fourth quarter.
“It feels good to get off to a good start after having a good year last year,” head coach John Tavares said. “I thought it was a hard-fought battle but what made the difference was having that great fourth quarter.”
Dhane Smith had 11 points for the Bandits, including eight assists, while goalie Matt Vinc made 54 saves.
“Luckily we have the best goalie in the world, and he makes those stops and it gets us going,” Smith said.
The Bandits scored the first goal of the game via a full-field pass from Vinc to a streaking Dylan Robinson, who had Tehoka Nanticoke wide open beside him. Buffalo’s defense suffocated the Knighthawks, only allowing three shots in the quarter.
After being shut down in the opening quarter, Rochester struck fast after the break, scoring 1:05 into the frame when Thomas McConvey faked out Vinc on the crease to tie the game. After that, it was all Buffalo for the rest of the first half.
Chase Fraser passed across the offensive zone to forward Josh Byrne, who bounced a shot past Rochester keeper Riley Hutchcraft. Then, 47 seconds later, Byrne fed Smith for his first goal of the new season. Smith added onto his goal tally at the 3:23 mark, zipping a lethal sidearm shot by Hutchcraft’s pads to increase Buffalo’s lead to 4-1.
While the Bandits came out of the first half up three goals, they had two goals called back during the period, including one that would’ve given Smith a hat trick in a 4:31 span.
In the second half, Rochester went to work on cutting down the Bandits’ lead. The Knighthawks went on a four-goal run, including three goals in the first 5:50 of the quarter to take a 5-4 lead.
“That was our first game, I think you could see the jitters a little bit early on,” Kyle Buchanan said. “It took a while for us to get going.”
Following a minute-and-a-half lull, the Bandits regained the lead in a span of 29 seconds via back-to-back goals from Byrne and Chris Cloutier.
Buffalo and Rochester traded goals in the final two minutes of the period, with the Bandits’ goal coming short-handed. Smith’s shot went off Hutchcraft’s pads right to Ian MacKay’s stick for the easy putback, making it 7-6 going into the fourth quarter.
After a third quarter of back-and-forth lacrosse, the Bandits broke the game open in the final frame.
Buchanan, Nanticoke and Smith each scored a goal to open the quarter with a 3-0 run for Buffalo. Rochester responded with a goal of its own to make it 10-7 but was shut down the rest of the way.
BANDITLAND TAKEOVER. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ai0e5QYNb1
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) December 8, 2024
In the final half of the fourth quarter, the Bandits scored five straight goals to make it 15-7. Buchanan had two goals to give him a hat trick in a single quarter and his 600th career point. Smith assisted on the first three goals of the 5-0 run to give him his 6th, 7th, and 8th assists of the night, all of which were primary assists.
“We [bore] down and made it a 15-minute game,” Tavares said. “It was a 7-6 game going into the fourth quarter and I told the guys that I didn’t expect anything less but a great game and that’s what we were in. The guys put everything on the line.”