After losing their previous eight games, the Buffalo Bandits were finally able to come through when it mattered most in their opening round playoff matchup against the Toronto Rock.
With the Bandits able to secure the victory tonight against the Rock, they will advance to the Eastern Division finals to face the back-to-back defending NLL Champion Rochester Knighthawks.
The Bandits were able to score two goals in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter to come away with the 15-13 victory over the Rock in front of 7,867 at the Air Canada Centre.
Ryan Benesch’s two power play goals during the game helped the Bandits keep the Rock away from the lead en route to the victory.
Benesch ended the game with ten points (7G, 3A) and earned first star honors from the media.
Rock forward Kasey Beirnes led the team with four goals tonight and earned the game’s second star honors.
Earning third star honors in the win this evening was Bandits starting goaltender Anthony Cosmo. Cosmo earned his first ever playoff victory and put in a valiant effort with 41 saves on 54 shots with a save percentage of .759% in the win.
Bandits transition specialist Andrew Watt would get the team first on the board with his only goal of the night just three minutes into the game. The Rock would counter with a goal from their captain Colin Doyle five minutes later with a sniper of a shot past Cosmo to tie the game at one goal apiece.
The Bandits would answer back by going on a 3-0 run, with a goal coming from assistant captain Shawn Williams and a pair of goals from Benesch. The three goal run gave the Bandits a 4-1 lead nearing the end of the first quarter. With less than a minute remaining in the opening quarter, Kasey Beirnes received a pass from Rob Hellyer and went five-hole on Cosmo to help the Rock stay within two goals of the lead with the score 4-2 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was truly a see-saw battle with each team unwilling to let the other break away with the lead.
For the opening five minutes of the second quarter, the Bandits and Rock went back and forth on a pair of goals with each team refusing to yield to the other. The Bandits received a pair of goals from Steenhuis and Rooney while the Rock received a pair from Sanderson and Hellyer.
With the Bandits still holding on to the two goal lead midway through the second quarter, Colin Doyle swung the momentum back into the Rock’s favor with his final two goals of the evening and the hat-trick to tie the game at 6-6.
Not to be outdone by Colin Doyle this evening, Ryan Benesch would record a hat-trick of his own by scoring the final two Bandits goals of the quarter and giving his team the 8-7 lead heading into halftime.
Beirnes and Josh Sanderson helped get the second half scoring started for the Rock to give them their first lead of the night midway through the third quarter at 9-8. Four and a half minutes later, Benesch would answer back for the Bandits with his fifth goal of the evening at 10:37 when his shot trickled past Rock goalie Brandon Miller.
Rock rookie and former second round draft pick for the Bandits, Nick Diachenko, gave the 10-9 lead back to the Rock at 12:27 only to be answered less than a minute later with Benesch’s sixth goal of the evening.
With the game all tied up at 10 goals apiece in the final quarter, it was John Tavares who would get the Bandits on the scoreboard first with only thirty three seconds off the clock. The Bandits and Rock would battle back and forth over the next ten minutes with each team scoring two goals apiece. Dhane Smith and Benesch would tally for the Bandits while Diachenko received his hat-trick.
With the Bandits clinging to the 13-12 lead with less than five minutes remaining in the game, the Bandits were able to secure the victory by scoring two out of the final three goals in the game and eliminated the Rock from playoff contention.
Buffalo’s next game will be Saturday May 10th at the First Niagara Center in their first of two Eastern Division Final matchups with the back-to-back NLL champion Rochester Knighthawks. The second game in the series will be played a week later on Saturday May 17th at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester.
