The Buffalo Bandits kicked off their 2022-2023 season at home Saturday night at KeyBank Center. Their interstate rival, the Albany FireWolves, were in town and there were high expectations for the boys in orange and black. After a heartbreaking loss in game three of the NLL Finals last year, Buffalo had high hopes for this fresh season and looked to start this year the same as last. Well, not if Doug Jamieson had something to say about it. The world-class goaltender and the rest of the FireWolves spoiled the party in Banditland, beating Buffalo 11-10.
“We know what to expect from Dougie,” said Buffalo forward Kyle Buchanan. “I thought we shot five-hole quite a bit. He’s a successful young goalie, but we made him look good at times. We couldn’t beat him when it mattered.”
Buffalo did strike first, however, as Tehoka Nanticoke fired a quick bouncer from close range. Albany rattled off three straight after that to swing the momentum in their favour. Goals by Tanner Thomson, Connor Kelly and Ethan Walker made it 3-1 after one. It may sound silly, but Buffalo only led once in this game, and that was Nanticoke’s opening goal. Between Jamieson’s stout play and Buffalo not being able to get going and stay going, this would prove to be quite interesting the rest of the way.
Albany added another goal to their early lead with a power play goal from Kelly. Buffalo finally answered back as Ian MacKay fired one in off a rebound and Josh Byrne notched his first to make it 4-3 with 8:04 left in the second quarter. About a minute later, Walker buried his second, but was answered by Kyle Buchanan off a slick pass from Dhane Smith. The FireWolves came up empty on their final possession of the frame, to keep it at 5-4 going into the half.
Jamieson definitely did his part in the first half to keep Albany ahead. Dougie stopped 21 of 25, while his counterpart Matt Vinc, looking a bit shaky at times, stopped 13 of 18.
Another big facet of Albany’s first half success was the play of second-year forward Tanner Thomson.
“We’re just relying on the boys,” Thomson said. “Trying to keep them going; it’s a team game, we’ll figure it out together. Offense is moving pretty quickly and looking pretty good. We’ll see if we can keep it going.”
The third quarter began and the scoring picked up a bit by both sides. First, John Piatelli added to the Albany lead with a shorthanded goal. This snipe was set-up by an amazing individual effort by Charlie Kitchen who, while taking a beating by two Bandits defenders, found Piatelli in the slot. Buffalo was in the middle of a five-minute power play due to goalie interference, so this goal was an absolute backbreaker.
Just before the five minute major expired, Albany took another penalty. Byrne made sure Buffalo cashed in. FireWolves lead 6-5 with 7:26 left in the third. Albany went on a three-goal run almost directly after Byrne’s goal. Hiana Thompson and Kieran McArdle got their firsts, and Thomson got his second. Nanticoke answered back with his second and Chris Cloutier got his first to make it 9-7 going into the final frame.
If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times; lacrosse is a game of runs. It doesn’t matter how big or small, they make a world of difference. Buffalo needed to build on the two goals they scored to end the third. Here we go. Buchanan got his second and less than 30 seconds later, Nanticoke got his hat trick. All of a sudden we’re tied 9-9.
Nanticoke’s goal came with a price, however. Big uh-oh for Buffalo as Nanticoke crashed into Jamieson, getting a five-minute goalie interference penalty, and a five-minute fighting major. In the NLL, if you get two five-minute majors in one game, that gets you a game misconduct. A huge loss for the Bandits. As a result of that, plus Albany’s tenacious play all night, they rattled off two straight goals from McArdle and Colton Watkinson. That’d be your nail in the coffin, boys and girls. Cloutier made the scoreboard look a bit better with his second goal at about the one minute mark, but that’d be all she wrote. Jamieson and the Albany defense stood tall when it mattered, your final being 11-10 FireWolves.
Players of the game for Buffalo were Nanticoke (three goals), Cloutier (2+3), Byrne (2+4) and Buchanan (2+2). Smith also was a big contributor, notching five assists. Vinc didn’t seem to look in sync all game long, finishing the game with 27 saves on 38 shots.
As for Albany, Kelly (2+3), Thomson (2+5), and McArdle (2+4) led the way. It demands repeating that the performance of the night on either side was that by Jamieson. Dougie stood on his head all night long and finished with 45 saves on 55 shots. Unreal stuff from the world-class goaltender.
As previously stated, it seemed as though Buffalo was always behind in this game. Head coach John Tavares addressed that and more post game: “It’s tiring. You’re always trying to score that next goal and you feel that pressure. All of the [East Division] teams are strong, but you can’t base it on one game.”
Josh Byrne was noticeably frustrated after the game and commented on the team chemistry, or lack thereof: “They play very unorthodox defense. That’s something we’re not really used to. We have a couple new guys on both offense and defense, and it’s kind of getting used to each other’s tendencies.”
Buffalo (0-1) looks to work out the kinks and get into the win column. They have some time to work things out, as they travel to Toronto for a matchup against the Rock (1-0) at FirstOntario Centre on December 17th at 7 p.m. As for Albany (1-0), they look to continue their winning ways, as they travel home for a matchup against Rochester (1-0) on December 17th at 7 p.m.
