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

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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
FINAL
San Diego
17
Panther City
9
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
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PlayoffsStories/Op-Ed

The Buffalo Bandits Journey To The NLL Finals

When the Buffalo Bandits gathered for training camp prior to the start of the 2021-22 National Lacrosse League season, there was a mission statement, one that was no different than any of the other clubs in the NLL.

And that mission statement is to win it all.

“I’m sure if you asked anybody on any team, they’re going to give you the same answer,” said Bandits Head Coach, John Tavares.  “Everybody’s goal is to win the championship.”

And that’s where the Bandits are as they prepare to meet the Colorado Mammoth in the NLL Finals with Game 1 set for Saturday night at KeyBank Center in Buffalo (7:30pm ET ESPN+/TSN4).

For the Bandits, the story of the 2021-22 season could be titled “Unfinished Business”.

That’s because to put what the Bandits have accomplished so far this season and what they ultimately hope to do in the finals, you have to go back two years to the 2018-19 NLL season. The Bandits were the top seed heading into the playoffs with a 14-4 record and they advanced to meet the Calgary Roughnecks in the NLL Finals.

Things didn’t go according to plan.

“Going into that championship, people were saying that we were the favorites and we’re going to win,” recalled Tavares. “They swept us two games to zero and that was definitely a learning lesson.”

And that was the last time that two teams competed for the NLL title.

The 2019-20 season was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic and a champion was not crowned. The pandemic also wiped out the entire 2020-21 season so the Bandits have been waiting a long time to get back to this point.

And that journey started during the off-season with the painful memory of what happened three years ago.

“We have a lot of guys from that losing team that have something to prove,” said Tavares. “Going into this year, we tried to get an early start. The guys were training well before training camp started. They put a lot of sweat, blood and not much tears and a lot of effort into this entire season well before the regular season even began.”

The Bandits opened up the 2021-22 season on fire with six straight wins and they were 13-1 through 14 games. They won games in many different ways. There was a small sense of revenge gained in their season opener on December 4th when they handled the team that beat them in the 2019 Finals as they beat Calgary 16-9. Then there was a trip to Long Island on January 30th when the Bandits rallied from a 3-goal deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the New York Riptide 18-17 in overtime.

In a nutshell, the Bandits were sending a message to the rest of the NLL that they were a machine.

“We got off to a really good start,” said Tavares. “I remember the first few games of the season we were very successful getting off not only to a good start in the standings but also a good start in pretty much every game that we played. We had good leads and learned to play with the lead.

But after just about everything was going their way, the Bandits began to face some adversity as they closed the regular season with three losses in their last four games to finish 14-4.

It’s not an ideal way to head into the playoffs, but the Bandits were still the number one seed and they certainly learned some lessons as they prepared for the post-season.

“Over the course of the year, you’re going to run into some obstacles,” said Tavares. “That just taught us how to get better and taught us what we had to improve on. It took us back to the drawing board.”

And that drawing board helped the Bandits get back on track as they opened the NLL Playoffs on May 7th with a 10-5 win over Albany in Banditland. Then it was onto the East Conference Finals against the Toronto Rock and the Bandits had their hands full. Buffalo took game one in Buffalo 18-17 on May 15th and then finished off the two-game sweep on May 21st winning 10-9 in Hamilton, Ontario.

In Game 1, Toronto hit the post with the waning seconds of the game but was unable to tie it as time expired. It looked like Toronto had tied Game 2 with a last-second goal, but after video review, it was determined that the ball went into the net after the clock hit zero.

“It took two tough battles right to the last second or tenth of a second to win those games,” said Tavares.

And now, the Bandits are back in the finals after a regular season that seemed to have a little bit of everything. There was a lot of success for most of the season and then there were some struggles at the ends of the season and a close call against Toronto in the playoffs.

The Bandits are now two wins away from the fifth championship in franchise history.

We’re going (into the finals) with one thing in mind and that’s to win,” said Tavares. “At the end of the day, I think what really led us to improve and get to the finals is the group of guys that we have on the team. Every guy on our team puts the team first.”

In the finals, the Bandits will be facing a Mammoth team that began Buffalo’s late season struggles with a 15-14 win over the Bandits on April 2nd in Denver. The game was tied at 14-14 when Colorado’s Connor Robinson scored the game winning goal with a minute to go in the fourth quarter.

The Bandits expect a tough matchup in the finals.

“They have a lot of threats offensively,” said Tavares. “They’re very athletic defensively. They move the ball in transition. It’s a tough place to play in Colorado. They create a lot of havoc for any opponent.”

The Buffalo Bandits last won an NLL title in 2008 when they beat Portland in the finals. Since then, the Bandits have been back to the finals twice without winning bringing the total number of finals that they’ve lost to five, more than the four times that they’ve won.

The goal this season is simple…unfinished business to bring championship number five to Buffalo.

NLL