Week 19 saw a rivalry renewed at Ball Arena between the Buffalo Bandits and the Colorado Mammoth. These two teams are no strangers to one another, and both teams were desperate for a win, for completely different reasons. Buffalo saw themselves atop the standings but were on a bit of a skid coming in, so a win would be massive for their confidence as the playoffs approached. Colorado was logjammed right in the middle of the standings, so a win would be crucial towards their goal of returning to the playoffs.
The Bandits are notorious for taking penalties, some warranted, some not. It isn’t often where the clock hits zero and the Bandits have a 0 in the PIM column. That changed Saturday night as Buffalo put together a full 60 minutes of clean lacrosse and cruised to a 15-10 victory.
Buffalo started the best way a team could when entering the Loud House, by scoring three-straight to open the game. Those goals were scored by Dhane Smith, Kyle Buchanan, and Josh Byrne, and they spanned from the 10:05 mark to the 3:17 mark. What that tells us is that Buffalo completely dictated the pace of the game for a vast majority of the first quarter. Ryan Lee finally got the Mammoth on the board with his first with under a minute to go. 3-1 Buffalo after one.
Colorado woke up in the second quarter and limited Buffalo’s chances and mounted the comeback. Clay Scanlan buried two goals, with Connor Kelly splitting them to begin the frame. Lee notched his second and Jordan Gilles lit the lamp in the waning seconds to cut the deficit to just one going into halftime. 5-4 Bandits at the break.
We were treated to a phenomenal goaltender battle in this game. On one side, Matt Vinc had a stellar first half, stopping 21 of 25. On the other, Dillon Ward matched him almost every step of the way, stopping 20 of 25.
This clash turned into an absolute track meet in the third quarter, with Buffalo pulling ahead when the clock hit zero. Connor Robinson got the scoring started for the Mammoth with his first, but Chase Fraser had the answer not even two minutes later. Lee buried his hat trick, but instead of a one-goal response from Buffalo, they responded with three-straight, one of which was a milestone. Those goals were scored by Buchanan on the power play, Smith, and Ian MacKay. The milestone was Smith’s goal, as he reached 1200 career points. Unreal stuff from someone who has plenty more in the tank. Will Malcom got the next goal for Colorado, but once again Buffalo responded with two more, one from MacKay and the other from Byrne. Catch your breath, we have another quarter to go. 11-7 Bandits after three.
The Buffalo momentum continued as the fourth quarter began, as they kicked it off with two more goals, one from MacKay, giving him the hat trick, and the other from Dylan Robinson, which was a beauty in transition. Kelly and Buchanan traded goals after that, and then Malcom rattled off two of his own, however that’d be it for the Mammoth scoring. Colorado pulled their Ward to get an extra attacker, and then the leprechaun of lacrosse happened. Vinc made a save, looked up, and fired a shot onto the empty cage that bounced in. Pure elation as he was mobbed by the Bandits defense. That gave us our final from the Loud House, 15-10 Bandits.
Players of the game for Buffalo were Buchanan (3+1), MacKay (three goals), and Byrne (2+8). Byrnzy also hit a milestone as he eclipsed the 600-career point mark. Vinc, putting the goalie-goal aside, had a sensational night in net, stopping 33 of 43. For Colorado, Lee (3+3), Malcom (3+2), and Kelly (two goals) led the way. Ward’s night was the tale of two halves, with the second being the worst of the two. He stopped 44 of 58.
“It’s going to be cool when I retire”, said Smith about reaching 1200 points. “Right now, it doesn’t mean much, my goal is to win as many championships as I possibly can. They’re a great team over there, they’re playing desperate ball, we’re playing desperate ball. Once we got one, we kind of got on a roll and stuck to the game plan.”
Buffalo (12-4) sits in the first spot in the standings and have officially clinched a first-round home playoff game. They look to continue sharpening themselves before the playoffs, as they return home to welcome Halifax (10-6). That game is this Saturday at 7:30pm. Colorado (8-8) still sits in playoff contention but presumably would like to win out to increase seeding. Their next contest is also at home against Saskatchewan (11-5), this Sunday at 4pm.
