The Next Six

Entering the next set of six games to be played over the course of a month, this is a good time for the Bandits to make a statement.

It starts Saturday night in Denver with a meeting against the Mammoth, 9 pm eastern.

“I’m not happy being 3 and 3. We need to get better offensively, defensively, and on special teams,” said Steve Dietrich, Bandits general and defensive coordinator.

“We play well in parts of games but have yet to play a whole 60 minutes in any game. Our backbone has been Matt (Vinc); he has been fantastic so far, so we need the team around him to be better.”

Take a Pause Here

Jumping to a sidebar story while mentioning the goaltending position, the Bandits traded Steven Orleman last week to Toronto, which has made way for third-year practice roster goaltender Evan Constantopoulos (Kon-stan-taw-puh-luhs) to be officially placed on the club’s active roster.

“Getting the call-up feels amazing. I’m super excited to be a part of the best team in the NLL alongside the best fans in Banditland,” said Constantopoulos.

This is a huge moment for the 6’6”, 230-pound third-year pro who was drafted in the second round in 2023. He’s been a dedicated student of the position, taking thousands of shots, and being mentored by two of the legends Vinc and Anthony Cosmo. And Dietrich, too.

“I was his age playing in Baltimore. A deer in the headlights back then. Wasn’t very good, but loved the experience living in Baltimore,” said Dietrich.

“He gets better every practice and loves taking shots. I thought he took a big step this summer, playing big minutes in very big games for Orangeville.”

Those big minutes turned into positive numbers while playing junior with Orangeville. In ’24, Evan had a goals-against of 8.56 and a save percentage of .837. This past summer, the numbers changed to 6.3 goals-against and an .858 save percentage.

He was named to the OJLL All-Star team and was the Most Valuable Player, posting the lowest goals-against average, as Orangeville claimed the OJLL Championship Iroquois Trophy. Evan had the lowest goals against average in the Minto Cup. 

“He’s ready for the next step,” Dietrich said.

As You Were Saying

OK, back to the storyline. You could see that partnership jelling in the last game, with the defense giving Vinc the lanes (21 saves in the first half, the 4-4 score), and the unit becoming aggressive on loose balls and transitioning the play into the offensive zone.

But it’s the 60-minute enigma. It has to happen for the Bandits to be successful this season. Every team, again, is going to play well above its ability to beat the champs.

And the start of this six-game segment of the schedule is crucial to establishing a consistent attack.

“You have to be effective and efficient in all facets of the game,” said Randy Mearns, former Bandit, D-1 coach for 27 years, and a member of our broadcast team.

Maybe it’s a return to a more structured attack by the offense, rather than free styling, just to get things going.

“Seems to be divided,” said Tavares. “This year, I’ve taken a more freestyle approach. But when things aren’t going well, it’s nice to put some structure in; getting some movement, getting everybody involved. We might have to revisit the structure base.”

Chalk Talk, Slowly Please

Mearns, as a courtesy, explains structure/freestyle to us in layman’s terms.

“Here’s the set-play: We’re going to run Johnny powder blue.”

• “Once you make the line change and cross the restraining line, you’ve got 18-20 seconds to initiate, maintaining balance with the righties and the lefties, as long as the ball goes east to west, north to south.”
• “Now the defense has to re-adjust, and let’s see if we get a quick look-see (shooting on net).”
• “The best part of the design is that everybody knows what they are supposed to do within those 10 seconds.”
• “But then, if it’s not there, you have about eight seconds to basically play lacrosse, a.k.a. freestyle.”
• “Here’s the kicker: the ball moves faster than the feet.”

Defense

Mearns went on to say that today’s NLL defenses know and anticipate plays thanks to video. And the standard big, athletic, well-coached sell line; it’s hard to score.

“Build that momentum. If you can get two or three off transition, it could be the difference in a game,” said Mearns.

Who’s Up

With the first six Bandit games, 24 players have appeared in at least one game, so everybody had their opportunity. Now the challenge is: which core guys are they going with, and which healthy ones are on injured reserve?

“Yes, it should be a good battle internally with Matt Spanger, Mitch de Snoo, and Zack Belter all close to coming back. It’s going to create a logjam, and some very difficult decisions will need to be made,” said Dietrich.

A couple of those difficult decisions were made on Tuesday. Ron John and Mike Triolo were taken off the active roster and replaced with Belter and Spanger, both elevated from injured reserve.

Chemistry. Confidence. Character. A perfect combination to make a statement.

Broadcast Information: Bandits @ Mammoth, Saturday, January 31st.

Radio coverage of the game from Denver will be on 1520 AM The Bet & Audacy.com with the pregame show starting at 8:30 pm Eastern.

Television will be on CW23, ESPN+, TSN+, NLL+, and Altitude. Coverage starts at 9 pm Eastern. Radio audio can be matched by freezing your TV right at the faceoff, then waiting for the radio to call the faceoff. Unfreeze your TV.