Oh, the colors…
While most everyone was preparing for Easter and Dyngus Day, assembling their wildest clothing colors and affixing bright flowers around their headwear, the Bandits foreran the upcoming celebrations last Saturday with a highly colorful and decisive 18-12 win over Philadelphia.
Suddenly, the fear of failure clouds parted, and the Bandits found a way to win.
“We have a lot of veteran leadership, and we’ve been in these positions before,” said Bandits captain Steve Priolo. “We are in good spirits and trying to figure out our Xs and O’s and make a run here.”
“For us now, it’s one game at a time, but we know we must go on a run, as many teams are chasing us.”
That chase is in full effect, with the Bandits hovering in sixth place with an 8-7 record. Ahead of them are Halifax and Georgia, two teams who own tiebreakers over the Bandits with their previous victories this season over the champs.
Relish the moment.
The team won’t soon forget Dhane Smith’s glorious afternoon, during which he scored five goals, seven assists, and gathered 11 loose balls—leading the team in that category!
Josh Byrne followed with three goals and seven assists, making the two thick as thieves in the colorful romp.
Byrne and Smith eclipsed the 100-point mark and lead the National Lacrosse League in scoring respectfully.
The Bandits roster gave a colorful performance; eleven players contributed to the scoring. Most players had multiple loose balls, and Matt Vinc’s 17 stops in the fourth quarter capped a 51-save performance. Shooting 27 percent with shots on helped, too.
Remember Forth Worth.
“I’ve been around this team for a long time, and other than the losses in the championships, the loss in Fort Worth was right up there,” said Steve Dietrich, Bandits GM and defensive coordinator.
“The guys were dejected after the game, thinking that last season, they found ways to win, and this year, they are finding ways to lose. You have to get that mentality out of your head.”
Found a way to win.
You could see last Saturday that groove building as their confidence level grew; the defensive plays were made, and the goals were scored.
Ah, yes, the video.
A couple of points of the Bandits’ Saturday performance are better documented by the game video.
With the Wings on a three-goal run, narrowing the Bandits’ lead to one, Kyle Buchanan displayed his talents impeccably.
Teamwork shows Smith with the pass to Chris Cloutier, who finds Byrne along the far boards. Byne tosses it back to Smith.
But watch Buchanan (#91) slip free and get open for a shot at close range.
Denied, Buchanan chases down his loose ball behind the Philly net and flings it back to Smith, who returns the volley to Buchanan in a full sprint towards the front of the net.
Within seconds of being crunched, Buchanan goes back over the shoulder top cheese into the twine.
Below is another display of teamwork.
With the score tied at 9, Bandits Adam Bomberry awaits the offense to enter the Wings zone, keeping the defense spread. Cloutier receives the pass and then finds Byrne, who draws attention. See the rest of the Bandits doing their job.
Then, watch Smith trail in from the left of your screen. Pocketing the ball and using Chase Fraser as a decoy. The rest is history.
“We are getting better. We need to take the momentum of the strong performance and keep delivering for the next three games,” said Dietrich
Bright solid colors ahead!
Stat Rat
Josh Byrne, with a career-high 111 points and 45 goals, is 19+24 in his last five games.
Dhane Smith, crossing the 100-point plateau for his third straight season and seventh of his eleven-year career, has 14 goals and 28 assists in his last five games. Oh, and 102 loose balls and 17 caused turnovers!
Chris Cloutier, two points away from his career-high 59 points, is 8+12 in his last five games.
Tehoka Nanticoke is 9+5 in his last five games.
Ian Mackay, leading the club with 138 loose balls, has recorded 16 caused turnovers and 10 soakers and is 4+10 in his last five games.
Nick Weiss has 17 caused turnovers, 92 loose balls, 12 soakers, and is 2+6 in his last five games.
Chase Fraser is one point away from his 200th career point and 6+8 in his last five games.
Kyle Buchanan is 5+8 in his last five games.
Steve Priolo played in his 215th Bandit game and has eight seasons of 100+ loose balls. The captain leads the club with 21 caused turnovers and 16 soakers.
Matt Vinc matched his season high with 51 saves last Saturday. The eight-time goaltender of the year now has four 50+ save games.
Broadcast
Friday night’s game from Denver will be televised on ESPN+ and TSN+. Broadcast time is 9 p.m.
Radio coverage will be on News Radio 930 WBEN and audacy.com, with the pregame show starting at 8:30 p.m.
You can listen to the radio audio on ESPN+ and TSN+ by freezing the veo right at the opening faceoff, waiting for the WBEN signal, radio, or audacy.com app to catch up, and then unfreezing when we sync with the action.