The opener of the week three slate was set to be something special. The hometown Ottawa Black Bears welcomed in the champs, the Buffalo Bandits. Ottawa and Buffalo were coming off of wins in their season openers, and they’d be clashing for the first time ever. (Considering Ottawa is in its first year of existence.) Buffalo used multiple four-plus goal runs throughout to absolutely cruise to an 18-7 victory. Talk…
NLL: Wings beat the odds, win big in home opener
The Philadelphia Wings were flying high for their home season opener on Saturday in Philadelphia. It was freezing on the outside and scorching on the field in a physical game that was entertaining from start to finish. Some new faces were mixed in with the old faces, and it was the same with the coaching staff. Philadelphia started strong and finished strong, soaring to a solid 19-10 win to tie…
NLL: Roughnecks stun Thunderbirds in high-scoring affair
For the first time in five seasons in Halifax, the Thunderbirds lost their home opener. Losing 18-17 against the Calgary Roughnecks in the highest-scoring game in Thunderbirds’ history. While the score was close, the loss was ugly. Halifax was up 11-4 with under five minutes in the second quarter. Afterwards, they surrendered seven straight goals to allow Calgary to tie in the third quarter. The game was close afterwards, but…
NLL: Smith, Byrne help Bandits take season opener against rival Knighthawks
Saturday night at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York, featured the first installment of the I-90 rivalry between the Rochester Knighthawks and the reigning NLL Champions, the Buffalo Bandits. Historically, these games are always high intensity on the floor and in the stands. The crowd was almost split down the middle, as Buffalo fans traveled very well for this contest. It looked like a continuation from the playoffs last…
NLL: Lee, Ward shine as Mammoth improve to 2-0
The start of week two action came to us from Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada late Friday night. If you reside on the East Coast, it was time for some NLL After Dark. The hometown Las Vegas Desert Dogs welcome in the Colorado Mammoth for quite the showdown, with Colorado knocking off the Desert Dogs, 15-9. That may seem like a bit of a whooping, but through the first…
NLL: Rush Outlast Firewolves 10-9 in OT
The Saskatchewan Rush established themselves as a force to be reckoned with on Saturday night, as they matched the Albany Firewolves goal-for-goal through regulation time and then took the win in overtime, winning 10-9 in their season opener. The Rush didn’t make the playoffs last year, while the Firewolves were the runners-up in the championship series to the Buffalo Bandits, so this outcome wasn’t necessarily expected. Ethan Walker opened the…
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
Hello all, remember me? I am going into my fourth season as the beat writer for the Buffalo Bandits. I have thought long and hard over the course of the last three seasons on how to keep a fresh, exciting style when writing about Buffalo, their games, etc. I am here to be a million percent honest with you all, I think I have run out of those ideas. The…
NLL: New Seals involved in 16 of team’s 18 goals, spoil O’Neill’s debut
The last game of the Week 1 slate was an absolute banger. Pechanga Arena and the rest of San Diego welcomed back their beloved Seals to their home floor. The Seals, new and old, welcomed the Philadelphia Wings for a Sunday showdown. We say new and old, because while the Seals had a lot of familiar faces return, they also had a lot of massive additions this offseason, and boy,…
NLL: Fields, Smith propel Knighthawks to Week 1 victory
Scream, shout, let it all out. Lacrosse is back and Saturday night featured a doozy between the Las Vegas Desert Dogs and the hometown Rochester Knighthawks. Blue Cross Arena was packed to the brim with fans oozing with excitement. Excitement because their beloved K-Hawks were back in action, and there are some high expectations surrounding the club this season. What better way to kick the campaign off, then with a…
NLL: Career Night from Zach Higgins Helps Ottawa Black Bears Maul Toronto Rock in Debut
A new National Lacrosse League season kicked off with a return to Ottawa on Friday night. The Blackbears were fuelled by career performances from trade acquisitions Zach Higgins, Jacob Dunbar and 7,000 fans at Canadian Tire Centre as they defeated the injury-depleted Toronto Rock 11-5. When free agency opened in early September, Rich Lisk began reconstructing the New York Riptide roster that would relocate to Ottawa. Within two days he…