The Big Three
A great Buffalo sports weekend is on the horizon with the Bills, Bandits, and Sabres in action. You can double-scoop with the Bandits & Sabres Saturday night. The Sabres at home against Anaheim, and the Bandits down the thruway in Rochester against the Knighthawks. Then on Sunday, the Bills start their playoff run in Jacksonville against the Jaguars.
No rest for the Buffalo sports fan. Keep the wagons moving!
Following an emotional Saturday night of past with the twelfth Tucker Out Lymphoma Night, the Bandits and Desert Dogs played a spirited game in honor of Tucker Williams, and for those fans supporting loved ones who are battling cancer.
Even with the Bandits down two defensemen (de Snoo and Belter), they held off the Dogs’ surge of those eight goals in the fourth quarter.
Take Five
“I’m coaching to win, regardless of who is out there on the other side,” noted Bandits head coach John Tavares. He was pleased with the Bandits’ depth chart, which spread the scoring out.
“Bucky got four and MacKay three (Bryne with 3+6, Smith with 2+6). It’s tough to defend when you attack by committee. It takes five on the offense to be successful. Not one, not two, but five,” said Tavares.
Nice Rhythm
It seemed like MacKay was going off the beat of Dave Brubeck’s famous instrumental, Take Five, as his smooth moves made it poetic with a natural hat trick, giving the Bandits a 7-4 lead at the time.
“Mickey is phenomenal, very creative, and a two-way player with a high IQ,” noted his head coach.
And what about that no-look over-the-shoulder shot?
“The backhand was like no, no, no, yes. Everyone on the bench was probably panicking. Probably not the smartest shot, but thank God it went in, or it would have been on the bad shot video next week,” said MacKay, a 2018 first rounder from the University of Vermont.
By the game’s end, MacKay amassed seven points, passing the 200th mark of his career.
“No Idea it was coming up. You don’t get there without your teammates; it’s a pretty cool feeling. Important that we got the win, though,” said the lefty who scored 37 goals last year.
Crazy to note that Byrne and Smith have assisted on MacKay’s goals 76 times, even though he didn’t start playing up front full-time until last season.
Leave it to Bucky
No matter who you speak with on the Bandits roster, every sentence is accompanied by the word unselfish. That’s the fabric of this team. Kyle Buchanan, the Bandits’ 38-year-old forward, embodies unselfishness.
For 13 seasons, Buchanan has been the consummate professional box lacrosse player, dedicating himself to his role as the set-up man by setting picks, gathering loose balls, and creating turnovers.
And sometimes he’s on the receiving end of some pretty passes, notably from Smith and Byrne, who have assisted in 138 of Buchanan’s 309 all-time career goals.
With his 13th season underway, nine of which included playoff appearances and five finals, with those three back-to-back rings as tangible evidence, Bucky, as his teammates call him, took some serious time during the summer before committing to another run with the Bandits.
“And you know, it’s been great, but this is the stuff you can’t replace,” said Buchanan.
A sixth-round pick by Washington in 2012 from Nepean, Ontario, Buchanan immediately established himself with Philadelphia/New England and San Diego before joining the Bandits after COVID.
He has eight 20+ goal seasons, including 34 goals last year, on his resume of 232 all-time games with 666 points. Yet he modestly turns the tables on his career and what to heed currently, as he noted after the Bandits’ 15-13 win over Vegas.
“Playing mediocre at times and winning a game is sort of the kiss of death because you can’t fall into that sort of routine and that trap, so we have stuff to work on still.”
And I will leave it with that. Bucky has seven goals and six assists in the Bandits’ four games played.
Mearns
As noted last spring, Randy Mearns has helped me with this game since day one of my 22-year tenure with the club. Patiently explaining the nuances and systems, which can be overwhelming.
I am happy Randy is back with us on the television broadcast for the halftime report, with his segment billboard as “Coach Mearns.”
Mearns is also active with the Bandits Jr. program, helping kids realize their dream of playing college lacrosse and, someday, the NLL.
“If you ask an eight or nine-year-old lacrosse kid in WNY what their dream is, it’s to play for the Bandits,” said Mearns.
“They are thinking about it at young ages, and this, in turn, will grow the game from the grassroots through high school, through college, into professional lacrosse. The pathway is set, and the next generation of lax players can make their dreams a reality.”
Following the Kid Path
Growing up in St. Catherines, and playing box since age 5, Mearns followed the template of playing hockey in the winter and box in the summer. At age 16, he was introduced to the field game and began playing with the Niagara Raiders.
Recruited to play field at Canisius for coach Van Tine, Mearns also played box for his hometown St. Catherines, where he won a Minto Cup playing with the Jr. A athletics in 1990. He then went on to win a Mann Cup while playing with the Brampton Excelsiors senior A club in 1992.
“I was taught at a young age by my parents to give back and be involved in the community. I started coaching in the St. Catharines minor lacrosse system when I was twelve years old. Been coaching ever since,” said Mearns.
The Mighty Bandits & Coaching D-1
Mearns was drafted by the Bandits in 1992 and played nine seasons, including two stints with the Bandits and seven with Rochester.
Throughout his NLL playing career, Mearns served as a graduate assistant at Canisius under then-coach Greco. He was named head coach of the Griff’s in 1999 and served as the D-1 program’s head coach for 19 years. From 2017 to 2025, he built the D-1 program from the ground up as head coach at St. Bonaventure University.
Mearns has coached college lacrosse for 27 years. Among the NLL players he coached in college were Matt Vinc, Dan Carey, Mark Miyashita, Adam Jones, Zack Belter, and Brett Dobson.
“The game today is so exciting, so fast, so skilled, and it continues to grow and flourish throughout North America. It’s an incredible opportunity for lacrosse to be in the Olympics in 2028. It’s absolutely huge for the sport,” Mearns said.
Broadcast Information – Bandits vs. Knighthawks
Saturday night’s game from Rochester will be broadcast on 1520 AM The Bet, with the pregame show set for 6:30 pm.
Television coverage will be on WIVB Ch. 4, ESPN+, TSN+, and NLL+, and will start at 7 pm.
If you want to follow the radio, freeze your TV at the faceoff and wait for the audio announcing it.