The Buffalo Bandits made it two NLL preseason victories in a row with a 12-10 victory over the Wings on Sunday at the First Niagara Center.
Ryan Benesch led all Bandits scorers with two goals while eleven different Bandits players had a goal each. For the Wings, James Delaney led all goal scorers with a hat trick and Jordan Hall scored a pair of goals. With this loss, the Wings dropped their second straight preseason game after falling 16-15 against the Bandits on Saturday.
The Bandits continued using their split squad roster strategy on Sunday and started Bandits goaltenders Anthony Cosmo in the first and third quarter and Bandits’ 2013 fifth round draft pick Eric Penney in the second and fourth.
The Bandits did not have the lead the entire first half and were down 8-5 by the time the game headed into halftime. With Penney out after the second quarter, The Buffalo Bandits and the stellar play of Cosmo held the Wings offense scoreless in the third while the Bandits rallied back for a four-goal run and took the 9-8 lead by the end of the third quarter.
With the Bandits up 9-8 early in the fourth quarter, Jordan Hall of the Wings put one past Penney to tie the whole game up at 9 goals a piece. Dhane Smith, Ryan Benesch and David Brock led the Bandits on a three goal run in the middle of the fourth quarter to give the Bandits back the 12-9 lead with four minutes left in the game.
Patrick Saunders scored for the Wings late in the fourth quarter to make it a 12-10 Bandits lead, but there wasn’t enough time in the game to allow the Wings to come back as the final score became Buffalo Bandits 12- Philadelphia Wings 10.
After the game, Anthony Cosmo spoke to the media about the newly developed Bandits’ defense and how they have played a big part in his success this preseason. “As a goaltender your defense is the most important part of [you]. I like our big defense. It’s nice and mean and played a little nasty. As long as we keep those shots to the outside we’ll be alright and again when anybody comes into the middle, they’ll pay the price as long as it’s within the rules.”
The Bandits will be away next Saturday night at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Hagersville, ON when they take on the Edmonton Rush.
Bandits goal scorers: Benesch (2), Resetarits (1), Williams (1), Hominuck (1), Brownell (1), Rooney (1), Critch (1), Pym (1), Wilde (1), Dhane Smith (1) and Brock (1).
