fbpx

BUF at SD - Sat. 10pm ET on ESPNews Schedule

×
WK
1
Fri, Dec 2
FINAL
Philadelphia
8
Halifax
18
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Vancouver
8
Toronto
19
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
San Diego
15
New York
14
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Albany
11
Buffalo
10
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Rochester
16
Georgia
11
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Colorado
6
Saskatchewan
18
WK
2
Fri, Dec 9
FINAL
Las Vegas
11
Panther City
13
Fri, Dec 9
FINAL/OT
Saskatchewan
12
San Diego
13
Sat, Dec 10
FINAL
Toronto
7
Rochester
11
Sat, Dec 10
FINAL
Vancouver
9
Calgary
11
WK
3
Fri, Dec 16
FINAL
Calgary
14
Vancouver
5
Fri, Dec 16
FINAL
Panther City
9
Las Vegas
3
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Buffalo
11
Toronto
8
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Rochester
14
Albany
13
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Philadelphia
13
Georgia
12
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Halifax
20
New York
11
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Colorado
12
Panther City
9
WK
5
Fri, Dec 30
FINAL
Halifax
13
Buffalo
18
Fri, Dec 30
FINAL
San Diego
17
Calgary
14
Sat, Dec 31
FINAL
Panther City
9
Saskatchewan
11
WK
6
Fri, Jan 6
FINAL
Philadelphia
14
Las Vegas
9
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Panther City
9
Rochester
17
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Halifax
14
Albany
11
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Buffalo
18
Georgia
9
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Toronto
15
New York
7
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Calgary
8
Colorado
9
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Vancouver
11
San Diego
16
WK
7
Fri, Jan 13
FINAL/OT
Albany
11
Halifax
10
Fri, Jan 13
FINAL/OT
Saskatchewan
10
Colorado
11
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Halifax
8
Toronto
17
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Panther City
12
Philadelphia
10
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Georgia
9
Buffalo
11
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
San Diego
10
Calgary
14
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Las Vegas
16
Vancouver
19
Sun, Jan 15
FINAL
Rochester
11
New York
8
WK
8
Fri, Jan 20
FINAL
Buffalo
12
Rochester
15
Fri, Jan 20
FINAL
Vancouver
14
Las Vegas
15
Sat, Jan 21
FINAL
Toronto
14
Philadelphia
5
Sat, Jan 21
FINAL
New York
16
Albany
10
WK
9
Fri, Jan 27
FINAL
Rochester
7
Halifax
17
Fri, Jan 27
FINAL
Buffalo
13
Philadelphia
9
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
Buffalo
16
New York
10
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
Las Vegas
10
Saskatchewan
15
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL/OT
Toronto
11
Calgary
10
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
San Diego
13
Colorado
9
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
Panther City
20
Vancouver
7
WK
10
Fri, Feb 3
FINAL
Georgia
10
Colorado
13
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL/OT
Calgary
12
Halifax
11
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
New York
14
Toronto
22
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Albany
5
Philadelphia
13
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Rochester
10
Buffalo
13
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Panther City
10
San Diego
12
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Saskatchewan
14
Vancouver
8
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Colorado
8
Las Vegas
13
WK
11
Fri, Feb 10
FINAL
Toronto
11
Georgia
10
Fri, Feb 10
FINAL
Saskatchewan
6
Calgary
13
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Halifax
14
Rochester
16
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Albany
12
New York
14
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Vancouver
13
Panther City
14
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Colorado
9
Calgary
13
WK
12
Fri, Feb 17
FINAL
Calgary
14
Vancouver
9
Fri, Feb 17
FINAL
Saskatchewan
16
San Diego
11
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL
Georgia
7
Toronto
16
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL
Las Vegas
12
Albany
10
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL/OT
Philadelphia
12
Buffalo
13
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL
Colorado
7
Panther City
13
Sun, Feb 19
FINAL
New York
12
Halifax
13
WK
13
Fri, Feb 24
FINAL
Panther City
12
Colorado
14
Fri, Feb 24
FINAL
Calgary
9
Las Vegas
11
Sat, Feb 25
FINAL/OT
New York
10
Rochester
11
Sat, Feb 25
FINAL
Albany
4
Georgia
20
Sat, Feb 25
FINAL
Vancouver
16
Saskatchewan
12
WK
14
Fri, Mar 3
FINAL
Buffalo
10
Halifax
9
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
New York
12
Philadelphia
19
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
Las Vegas
12
San Diego
15
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
Rochester
8
Toronto
9
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL/OT
Georgia
9
Albany
8
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
Saskatchewan
10
Panther City
16
Mon, Mar 6
FINAL
Toronto
10
Philadelphia
11
WK
15
Fri, Mar 10
FINAL/OT
Halifax
9
Buffalo
10
Fri, Mar 10
FINAL
Calgary
16
Colorado
10
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
Albany
6
Toronto
12
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
Philadelphia
10
New York
13
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
San Diego
12
Saskatchewan
11
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
Vancouver
14
Las Vegas
5
Sun, Mar 12
FINAL
Rochester
19
Georgia
18
WK
16
Fri, Mar 17
FINAL
Saskatchewan
6
Calgary
11
Fri, Mar 17
FINAL
San Diego
16
Vancouver
9
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Georgia
13
Philadelphia
12
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Toronto
12
Halifax
14
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Albany
10
New York
13
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Colorado
13
Buffalo
8
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Las Vegas
8
Panther City
11
Sun, Mar 19
FINAL/OT
Philadelphia
9
Rochester
8
WK
17
Fri, Mar 24
20:30:00
San Diego
Panther City
Sat, Mar 25
19:00:00
Toronto
Albany
Sat, Mar 25
19:00:00
Halifax
Philadelphia
Sat, Mar 25
19:30:00
Georgia
New York
Sat, Mar 25
21:30:00
Calgary
Saskatchewan
Sat, Mar 25
22:00:00
Buffalo
San Diego
Sat, Mar 25
22:00:00
Colorado
Vancouver
Sat, Mar 25
22:30:00
Rochester
Las Vegas
WK
18
Fri, Mar 31
19:00:00
New York
Georgia
Fri, Mar 31
21:00:00
Las Vegas
Colorado
Fri, Mar 31
22:00:00
Calgary
San Diego
Sat, Apr 1
19:00:00
Buffalo
Toronto
Sat, Apr 1
20:00:00
Albany
Panther City
Sat, Apr 1
21:30:00
Vancouver
Saskatchewan
Sun, Apr 2
13:00:00
Georgia
Halifax
Sun, Apr 2
18:00:00
Rochester
Philadelphia
WK
19
Sat, Apr 8
19:00:00
Albany
Rochester
Sat, Apr 8
19:00:00
Saskatchewan
Georgia
Sat, Apr 8
21:00:00
Panther City
Calgary
Sat, Apr 8
21:00:00
Vancouver
Colorado
Sat, Apr 8
22:30:00
San Diego
Las Vegas
WK
20
Fri, Apr 14
21:00:00
Las Vegas
Calgary
Fri, Apr 14
21:00:00
San Diego
Colorado
Sat, Apr 15
19:00:00
Philadelphia
Toronto
Sat, Apr 15
19:00:00
Georgia
Albany
Sat, Apr 15
19:30:00
New York
Buffalo
Sat, Apr 15
21:30:00
Halifax
Saskatchewan
Sat, Apr 15
22:00:00
Panther City
Vancouver
WK
21
Fri, Apr 21
20:30:00
Calgary
Panther City
Sat, Apr 22
18:00:00
New York
Halifax
Sat, Apr 22
19:00:00
Georgia
Rochester
Sat, Apr 22
20:00:00
Toronto
Buffalo
Sat, Apr 22
21:30:00
Colorado
Saskatchewan
Sat, Apr 22
22:00:00
Las Vegas
San Diego
Sun, Apr 23
15:00:00
Philadelphia
Albany
WK
22
Sat, Apr 29
19:00:00
Philadelphia
Rochester
Sat, Apr 29
19:00:00
Buffalo
Albany
Sat, Apr 29
19:00:00
Halifax
Georgia
Sat, Apr 29
22:00:00
Colorado
San Diego
Sat, Apr 29
22:00:00
New York
Vancouver
Sat, Apr 29
22:30:00
Saskatchewan
Las Vegas
Powered By
MGM Logo
Scores / Schedule
Game RecapsNewsPlayoffsStories/Op-Ed

Buffalo Outlasts Toronto In Emotional Conference Final Win

In the end, it was more than a game for every single person at Keybank Center on Sunday evening. The game itself was the medicine as the city of Buffalo came together after a terrible tragedy to cheer on their Bandits and heal together.

“It was with heavy hearts we played the game,” said Bandits’ Head Coach John Tavares. “It was great to get a win for the crowd; it was great to win on this weekend in terms of the tragedy yesterday. It was tough to combine the two in the change room, talking about what happened and talking about lacrosse. When you look at the big picture in life, lacrosse is a very small part. There was a lot of talk in our room about playing for the community and doing what little we can to try to change things.”

The Bandits took game one of the East Conference Final 18-17 over the Toronto Rock to lead the best-of-three series 1-0. Overtime wasn’t required, but by the fourth quarter, every goal felt like the biggest of the night. Eleven goals were scored in the final quarter alone, keeping the crowd of 10,258 on the edge of their seats.

“Tehoka Nanticoke talked about this being a medicine game,” said Josh Byrne. “In such a time where it feels not right to play, to see Banditland come out and support, having everyone come together and heal each other, it was a special feeling. It’s an incredible thing when you can bring community together with the game of lacrosse.”

Tied at 12 headed into the fourth, Toronto scored the first two to take a 14-12 lead. Those goals capped a six-goal Rock run dating back to halfway through the third. But now it was Buffalo’s turn for a run, and they scored five in less than four minutes to suddenly lead 17-14. The run was kicked off when Kyle Buchanan scooped up a juicy rebound and went airborne to beat Nick Rose. Byrne followed that up with a pair less than a minute apart, also going airborne on his first one. Nanticoke absolutely bullied his way to the net, knocking down a defender before throwing three fakes to fool Rose. Connor Fields capped the highlight-reel run with a wraparound goal.

Toronto outscored Buffalo 3-1 in the second half of the fourth, but couldn’t find the equalizer. Tom Schreiber got them within a goal with 8.6 seconds left. TD Ierlan won the ensuing faceoff, Rob Hellyer hit the post, and Dan Craig had to put the rebound wide as Matt Vinc deftly got in his way.

“Both teams are going to go back and watch a lot of film and do their homework and try to prevent 18-17 goals against,” said Tavares. “To give up 18 and 17, both teams are going to try to prove their defense.”

Tavares put to rest any notion that Matt Vinc and Nick Rose were responsible for the high score.

“It’s easy to look at goaltending and go ‘oh, you have to have that.’ These guys are very, very accurate,” he said. “They can pick the smallest corner from a lot of different spots on the floor. When you see that ball going in, it’s usually not the goalie’s fault. When I look back at 17 goals against, they’re all good shots.”

Vinc made 41 saves and Rose 33.

It was an offensive explosion for Buffalo, who had been stymied in their previous two games, the first of which was against Toronto on April 30th to close out the regular season. But Josh Byrne and Dhane Smith were back in top form, scoring 11 and 10 points each, respectively.

“Our defense has been great the past few games while our offense was struggling,” Smith said. “The whole year people have been talking about the offense… Yes, we were putting up the numbers, but our defense is always great. You’re going to have those games were the offense breaks out and thank goodness it was tonight. Everybody showed up offensively, everyone played their role. We have a great system that [Tavares] put in place for us.”

Byrne and Hellyer exchanged goals in the first 57 seconds of the game. Ian MacKay, on transition, and Zach Manns then traded goals for a 2-2 tie just over two minutes in. Buffalo’s first run of the night consisted of three goals, the highlight of which belonged to captain Steve Priolo, who came out of the corner with the ball and capitalized on a crease dive, not a move that he’s generally known for. Toronto’s Justin Scott stung the top right corner with 1:14 left in the first to end the run, and Nick Rose came up big late with a left shoulder save on Buchanan and a kick save on Nanticoke. Buffalo led 5-3 after the first.

The Rock kicked off the second with four straight goals; two each from Manns and Schreiber to put Toronto up by two. Buffalo wrestled that lead away with five of their own. Chase Fraser kicked it off, shooting overtop of a defender. Smith tied the game at seven after ducking around Latrell Harris to get an open look at Rose.

Fraser took the lead back for Buffalo with a SportsCenter-worthy goal, accepting the behind-the-back pass from Byrne and putting it through his own legs to score. Chris Cloutier then scored a pair back-to-back as he was left all alone by the Rock’s defense and took advantage of the open lanes.

Buffalo took a 10-8 lead into the dressing room at halftime after Rock captain Challen Rogers scored with two seconds left.

“It was up and down. The emotions were high, the emotions were low. It was a roller coaster game for both teams,” said Tavares.

The Bandits increased their lead to four at 12-8 early in the third. For the second time in the game, Byrne scored 33 seconds into the quarter – he opened the first at the exact same time.

Cloutier’s hat trick goal at 5:18 required a long review by the referees after Rock head coach Matt Sawyer threw the challenge flag. At normal speed, the goal looked good, but slowed down it appeared Cloutier’s left leg might have hit the crease before the ball went in. However, the goal was ruled good due to inconclusive evidence. But it gave the Rock, down four and needing energy, an unofficial timeout.

Sawyer contended after the game the move wasn’t made for strategic reasons.

“What did you see?” he asked. “We thought it wasn’t a good goal.”

But, he is also conscious of the need to turn the Bandits’ five-goal runs into two or three-goal runs in game two.

Strategic time out or not, it worked, and the Rock rattled off the next four, peppering Matt Vinc with shots. Dan Craig shot around a defender after Rogers set up a strong pick. Manns’ fourth goal of the night was an underarm bomb from midrange. Rogers then drove to the net to score and was tackled by Priolo for his efforts. Craig tied the game at 12 after Schreiber made a heads up pass after being unable to find a shot of his own.

While Buffalo was scoring from all over the floor, including many goals in tight, a good portion of the Rock’s goals were from midrange, classic over or underhand shots that Vinc had trouble with, and it worked for them, though Sawyer acknowledged that Buffalo got the better of them in the end.

“They got a lot of tough checks and they did a real good job of putting pressure on us defensively,” he said. “We were pretty deadly tonight from midrange. We need to find a way to keep them to the outside a little more than we did tonight… and we need to do a better job limiting the quality of their offensive chances. Most nights when you score 17… well, tonight was a night when we needed 19 and we thought we could have got it.”

But Buffalo needed the win, not just because it’s the playoffs, but because they needed something to celebrate.

“This one was definitely more than a game. It’s a big thing for us to play for others who can’t, and tonight was for those victims and their families that were affected,” said Byrne. “Lacrosse is just a game at the end of the day and with everything that went on yesterday, it was tough to kind of live in the moment.”

Dhane Smith put it into context with a rare pre-game speech to his teammates.

“I’m not the type of guy to talk too much,” he said. “I’m a shy guy; I don’t like to talk about my feelings, but I did get emotional before the game regarding what happened in Buffalo,” he said. “My why is – I play lacrosse because I love it, but also because I want to show kids of colour that they can be at the top of their level and make it pro and get out of the tough neighbourhoods… You have to play your game to the best of your ability, and you don’t know when your last day could come… It wasn’t a speech to get the boys going, but it was on my chest and I felt like I had to speak up.”

Game two goes on Saturday, May 21st at 7pm ET at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton as the Sports Interaction Game of the Week on TSN and on ESPN+. If necessary, game three will be back at Keybank Center on Saturday, May 28th at 7:30pm ET.

NLL