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597: TAVARES TOPS ALL-TIME GOALS LIST

39-year-old surpasses Gait's record with four goals on Saturday

01/20/2008

By Erin Pollina, Bandits.com

With the high-scoring nature of lacrosse, hat tricks tend to be a commonplace.

Yet when John Tavares scored his third goal of the night 3:01 into the second quarter of Buffalo's 17-13 victory over the Titans, Banditland erupted.

And Gary Gait had some company.

With the hat trick, Tavares tied Gait's all-time goal record at 596 scores.

All-Time Goal Scoring Leaders as of 1/20/08
597 - John Tavares - Buffalo Bandits (age 39)
596 - Gary Gait - Retired
408 - Paul Gait - Retired
399 - Tom Marechek - Retired
356 - John Grant - Rochester Knighthawks (age 33)

The fan frenzy was mild, however, compared to the announcement of the 17-year veteran's fourth goal of the evening at 13:08 into the third frame.

The crowd at HSBC Arena awarded the new NLL's all-time leading scorer with a standing ovation and dozens of signs reading "597" as he took his curtain call from the bench.

"It was great to hear them all cheering for the encore," Tavares said. "It was very emotional for me that I did it at home and a lot of the people have been coming to see me for all 17 years... so it was really extra special for me."

Although Tavares is known to downplay such milestones, brushing them off as a feat to get through rather than to, he did admit to giving into the hype a bit.

"For some reason I just had in my mind that if [Kevin] Dostie passed it to me I was just going to take my chances and shoot it," Tavares said of the play that broke the record. "It was kind of selfish thought... but it went in."

"Everything he gets right now he deserves and he's earned it," head coach Darris Kilgour said. "He is one of the hardest working guys I've ever been around and just a great leader."

Leading the way for the remainder of the Bandits' goals were Dostie with three on the night, followed by a pair of goals from Pat McCready and Mark Steenhuis, who also finished with four helpers.

Delby Powless finished with a five-point performance (2 5), including a shorthanded goal he scored on a cross-field feed from McCready.

The penalty kill overall, in fact, was equally as integral to the Buffalo's win as Tavares' scoring binge turned out to be.

The Bandits added two short-handed goals against New York and held the Titans on nine of their 15 power play opportunities.

The team has collected five short-handed goals on the year. In comparison, the Bandits totaled six short-handed goals in the 2007 campaign.

"I'm very pleased with the man short right now, but the main thing we talked about against New York is that we don't want to give them chances on the power play," Kilgour said. "I think they were nine for 12 last week so we were really worried about that and it was something that we didn't accomplish tonight."

However, what was accomplished may overshadow that aspect of the game for now.

"[Tavares] scores quality and quantity," Rich Kilgour said. "He is one of the rare guys that does both. He averages four a game no matter who we play and he's obviously the greatest of all time. There is no debating that... he's the best all around lacrosse player that has ever strapped it up in this league. I am very proud to say I played with him for 17 years."