Monday Night Finale Down to Wire in Thrilling Week 8
January 19, 2025By: Jon Rapoport
Have A Night Josh Byrne!!
This just in, Josh Byrne is exceptionally good at lacrosse.
Saturday night, the Buffalo Bandits icon was not of this planet, generating an eye-popping stat line that featured seven goals and five assists, leading the still-undefeated Bandits to a 19-14 triumph over the high-flying Philadelphia Wings. Thus far in the 2024-2025 season, the reigning NLL MVP is the proud owner of an astounding 16 goals and 29 assists.
Byrne was not the only Bandit player to shine on a snowy NFL playoff eve in Buffalo. Chase Fraser notched three goals and four assists, while another former MVP by the name of Dhane Smith was responsible for a blistering nine assists.
The Bandits cruised to a 13-4 and 16-7 lead before the visiting Wings mounted a six-goal barrage, cutting the deficit to 16-13, but that was as close as the Philly boys would get.
Holden Cattoni and Sam LeClair put up a good fight in defeat, combining for six scores and five helpers. 17,561 Western New Yorkers were in attendance for this memorable night of box lacrosse.
The Roughnecks Win An OT Thriller
The Georgia Swarm paid a visit to Alberta’s largest city for what turned out to be a memorable matchup with the Calgary Roughnecks. Nearly 10,000 fans funneled into WestJet Field at Scotiabank Saddledome to witness a back-and-forth battle between this pairing of star-studded rosters.
Holding a 10-8 second-half advantage, Georgia looked on as the legendary Dane Dobbie found the back of the net on three successive occasions, evening the score 10-10. Shayne Jackson regained the lead for the Swarm, just before Curtis Dickson lit the lamp for a third time, knotting the game at 11-11 and sending the festivities into overtime. 3:26 into the fifth frame, Haiden Dickson decided to be the man of the hour, winning this instant classic for the hometown Roughnecks.
On the Calgary side of the 12-11 celebration, the aforementioned Dobbie and C. Dickson combined for six goals, with Jesse King offering two more scores to the cause.
Lyle Thompson was his typical brilliant self for Georgia, claiming a hat trick, along with three assists. Andrew Kew assisted his teammates on seven goals in a game that will no doubt leave a sour taste in the Southerner’s collective mouths.
The Rock Finally Find The Win Column
Coming into the weekend, the NLL’s lone winless club was the struggling Toronto Rock, who entered their home game with the 4-1 Saskatchewan Rush owners of a very disappointing 0-5 record. Paced by a five-consecutive goal parade in the second and third stanzas, the Rock suddenly have something to smile about, entering the Mississauga night with an 11-8 victory in their back pocket.
Tom Schreiber led the way for the victors, posting three goals and four assists, with Chris Boushy, Josh Dawick and Brian Cameron supplementing two scores apiece.
Toronto keeper Nick Rose played perhaps his best game of the season, getting in the way of 41 out of the 49 shots blasted his direction.
The hard-charging Rush accepted their second loss despite two goals each from Ryan Keenan and Ryan Church. Former Rock up and comer Zach Manns added one goal and one assist in an unsuccessful return tour of Ontario.
The Knighthawks Stage An Epic Comeback
A duo of two-win franchises knocked heads on Canada’s Atlantic Coast where the Rochester Knighthawks outlasted the Halifax Thunderbirds 10-9, with 10,125 Nova Scotians making this game a significant part of their Saturday night plans. The local guys held what appeared to be a comfortable 8-5 third-quarter lead, only for the Thunderbirds to earn a front-row seat for a Rochester renaissance that involved connecting on five of the evening’s final six goals, enroute to the one-goal road win.
Connor Fields pulled the wagon for the Knighthawks, posting four goals and two assists, with Ryan Smith snatching two scores of his own. Randy Staats played a strong game for Halifax, inking three goals and two assists in an effort that came up just a hair short.
Both netminders performed admirably in this one, as the victorious Riley Hutchcraft and vanquished Warren Hill combined for an impressive 89 saves.
Simmons & Walker Right The Ship For The FireWolves
2023-2024 was an ahead-of-schedule season for the upstart Albany FireWolves, who shocked the world and advanced to the NLL Finals, where they would of course go down in defeat to the two-time defending champion Buffalo Bandits. While the Bandits have continued to flourish, the runner-up FireWolves have significantly regressed, entering Saturday’s home matchup with the Colorado Mammoth proprietors of an unsatisfactory 1-5 record.
Saturday served as a reminder of what could be for the club from New York’s state capital when Albany took down the 2022 NLL champions 13-10. Defending rookie of the year Alex Simmons was stellar achieving four scores and three helpers, with running buddy Ethan Walker procuring two goals and six assists.
Colorado led 8-5, midway through the third. With their sixth loss of the season becoming closer to reality, Albany turned the tables throughout the remainder of the game, scoring 8 and the competition’s final 10 goals, earning just their second win of the current journey.
Ryan Lee and Will Malcom had big nights for the conquered Mammoth, combining for seven goals and six assists.
Jack Hannah Puts On A Show In Las Vegas
A sellout crowd jammed Henderson, Nevada’s Lee’s Family Forum, on Wayne Gretzky Jersey Night, with the attendees beholding a “Great One” level performance courtesy of Las Vegas Desert Dogs young star Jack Hannah. With Vegas locked in an 8-8 tie with the San Diego Seals, late in the third, Hannah etched two of the next three goals, providing his team the distance needed to seize their second win of the year by a score of 12-10.
Hannah was downright spectacular, acquiring a hat trick, to go side-by-side with dealing out five assists. In a highly balanced effort for the boys from Sin City, nine Desert Dog players found the scoring column, with only Hannah tickling the twine on more than one occasion.
The Seals veteran additions of Rob Hellyer and Ryan Benesch continue to thrive in the Southern California sun, with the experienced duo conjoining for five goals and four assists.
Time will tell if Saturday’s inspiring showing will serve as a much-needed springboard for the still-struggling Desert Dogs franchise.
The Black Bears Thrive Off A Little Home Cooking
On Lax 4 All night in the nation’s capital, Ottawa snapped Vancouver’s three-game winning streak in front of 5,217 fans at Canadian Tire Centre to open Week 8. It was Ottawa’s second consecutive win after beating Georgia last week.
Zach Higgins had another strong game in goal for the Black Bears, making 41 saves and holding Vancouver scoreless for over 24 minutes of game time. Coming out of halftime tied 5-5, Ottawa built up a solid 9-5 lead. Vancouver was able to rattle off three in a row late in the 4th to get within a goal, but the Black Bears dug in and held on.
Larson Sundown led Ottawa with four goals, including back-to-back diving goals – one from behind the net and one from the front. Jeff Teat scored a pair with four helpers. Kiel Matisz, Jacob Dunbar and Taggart Clark also scored, and Eric Fannell had one assist in his Ottawa debut. Riley Loewen was the catalyst for Vancouver with three goals. Kevin Crowley added a pair, with singles from Keegan Bal, Owen Grant and Reid Bowering. Aden Walsh made 34 saves in goal.
The game included a pair of NLL debuts, with Remo Schenato dressing for Vancouver and Dustyn Birkhof suiting up for Ottawa.
Wings Outlast Warriors in Week 8 Finale
The weekend’s culminating matchup occurred in America’s birthplace, where the Philadelphia Wings came from behind to defeat the Vancouver Warriors 14-13. The game was supposed to happen on Sunday, but with the Philadelphia Eagles playoff clash against the Los Angeles Rams existing at Lincoln Financial Field, which shares parking and other infrastructure with the Wells Fargo Center, the NLL conflict was moved to MLK Day.
Both clubs played earlier in the weekend, with Vancouver losing to the Black Bears on Friday, while the host Wings also experienced the same fate, in their case via a road loss to the two-time champion Bandits.
The Warriors held a 10-7 third-quarter lead before the Wings put on an offensive clinic, linking on six sequential goals, three of which coming via the talents of Joe Resetarits, whose Monday contained those three goals, along with six assists. Mitch Jones subsidized a whopping five scores and six helpers, with rookie sensation Brennan O’Neill fortifying a hat trick.
Adam Charalambides played fabulously for Vancouver, scoring five and assisting four others. Keegan Bal produced eight total points, but it was not quite enough to override an 0-2 Eastern weekend for the boys from British Columbia.
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