The Buffalo Bandits defeated the New England Black Wolves 17-10 Saturday. Buffalo jumped ahead in the first quarter to a 5-2 lead; Aaron Wilson scored three goals in the first quarter, while John Tavares and Alex Kedoh Hill each had two assists.
Mark Steenhuis struck first for the Bandits in the second quarter pushing the lead back up to three after the Black Wolves scored. Joe Resetarits scored to make it 7-3 at the end of the half then the Black Wolves came back to make it a 7-5 lead. In the third period both Joel Mathews and Corey Fowler each scored to make it an 8-5 lead then 9-6.
Steenhuis then got his second of the game to make it 10-6 and the Buffalo Bandits never looked back scoring another seven to end the game with the 17-6 win. Veterans John Tavares and Mark Steenhuis each showed their exceptional lacrosse IQ with Tavares scoring five goals and having four assists and Steenhius with three goals and two assists.
“The ball was crisp and moving, some real good shots,” Bandits head coach Troy Cordingley said. “They were undisciplined at times and we capitalized on that. That’s huge in this league.”
New England is still a new team with a lot of time to mesh together as a team before their season opener versus Buffalo on January 2, 2015. The offensive star for the Black Wolves is Kevin Crowley. The team is still young with forwards like Mark Cockerton and Quinn Poweless. They have five rookie forwards on the roster as of right now. Evan Kirk is still a solid goaltender in the league. The defense needs to play with more discipline.
Look out this week for more cuts to be made and if young defenders Rod Squire and Sheldon Burns can be more of an impact for the defensive end.
