By: Brayden Peters
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Blue Cross Arena was packed with Buffalo Bandits fans as Buffalo got to open their season on the road against the Rochester Knighthawks. The hopes of extending the winning streak ended for Rochester as they fell to the Bandits 15-7. The Bandits got into a rhythm offensively in the fourth quarter that allowed them to pull away from the Knighthawks.
"We were second guessing everything that we were doing up to that point defensively," Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen said. "They (Buffalo) know how to do it at the end of the day...you just sit back and watch that core get to work and they're methodical and opportunistic."
Going into the fourth quarter, Buffalo had a slim 7-6 lead. With 11:55 left in the game, forward Kyle Buchanan buried the ball in the bottom right corner of the cage to add cushioning to the Bandits' lead. Forward Dahne Smith was credited with an assist as he fed Buchanan the ball while he was cutting towards the net. Defenseman Cam Wyers also was given credit for an assist as well.
From there, Buffalo scored two more unanswered goals that were less than a minute from each other. Forward Ryan Lanchbury, though, helped Rochester cut into the Bandits' lead. With 8:21 left to go in the game, Lanchbury beat goalie Matt Vinc on a right-handed sidearm shot that bounced into the top right corner of the rack. Forwards Curtis Knight and Thomas McConvey received credit for the assists.
Buffalo turned things up on offense after Lanchbury's goal, as they recorded five straight unanswered goals to secure the victory. The Bandits outshot the Knighthawks 62-to-61 after four quarters of action.
"I think we need to find a way to control the pace a little better," transition player Ryland Rees said. "I thought they kind of had a little bit of control over the tempo of the floor and pushed us out. Just got to find a way to kind of keep that even keel and just stick to the game plan."
Lanchbury was the points leader for Rochester as he had four (two + two) for the evening. He wasn't the only Knighthawk to have a multi-point game. McConvey (one + two) and forward Turner Evans (one + two) both had three points while forward Connor Fields had two points on two goals.
Smith led Buffalo in points with 11 (three + eight) on the evening and multiple other Bandits had a multi-point game. 2023 NLL MVP forward Josh Byrne had five points (two + three) while forward Tehoka Nanticoke (two + one), Buchanan (three goals), defenseman Dylan Robinson (one + two) and transition player Ian MacKay (one + two) all recorded three points. Forwards Chris Cloutier (two goals), Chase Fraser (two assists) and transition player Nick Weiss (two assists) all recorded two points in the win.
Goalie Riley Hutchcraft got the start in goal for the Knighthawks, recording 47 saves to give him a save percentage of .758. As for the Bandits, Vinc made 54 saves to give him a .885 save percentage.
Both teams were solid in man-down situations. Rochester went five-for-five in killing off power play opportunities while Buffalo went four-for-four.
"I thought on special teams we did well," Knighthawks defenseman and captain Dan Coates said. "You look at that (Bandits) offense, they're a well rounded offense...I thought early on we were just keeping things simple."
Both sides had trouble maintainging possession of the ball to start the first quarter. Multiple turnovers were caused that stalled both teams offensively. With just a little under five minutes into the game, though, Buffalo drew first blood. Nanticoke buried a one timer from Robinson on a two-on-one in transition. Vinc was also credited with an assist as well.
That goal got the Bandits going offensively, as they were able to get players towards the crease on cuts
compared. Rochester, though, struggled to do so, as Buffalo kept them out towards the perimeter.
"We talked about getting through the middle," Lanchbury said. "You play a big team like that who really likes to pack it in, we kind of let them dictate where they want us to go. We were settling for shots from tough angles with bad lanes where it's just really hard to get the ball through to the net...things we do really well as an offense traditionally we were inconsistent with tonight."
After 15 minutes of play, the Bandits outshot the Knighthawks 12-to-four.
Rochester quickly tied the game at one apiece a little over two minutes into the second quarter. On a delayed penalty, McConvey was able to pick up the loose ball off a shot and found the bottom left corner of the net. Lanchbury was given credit for the assist.
Buffalo went on to score three straight unanswered goals, though, two of which came from Smith. By the end of the second quarter of play, the Knighthawks outshot the Bandits 18-to-17 in the quarter.
Rochester made things complicated for Buffalo in the third quarter. The Knighthawks scored three unanswered goals to take a 5-4 lead, which was their first lead of the game. The Bandits quickly responded as they scored two unanswered to give them a 6-5 lead with 4:47 left in the quarter.
The Knighthawks knotted things up a little under two minutes later as Fields ripped a left-handed shot into the top right corner of the net. Evans and transition player Matt Gilray got assists on the goal.
However, with 32 seconds left in the quarter, Buffalo got the lead again as MacKay picked up a loose ball off a rebound and buried the ball in the bottom left corner of the rack. Rochester outshot Buffalo 24-to-16 in the quarter.
The Bandits were able to carry their momentum into the fourth quarter, putting up eight goals while only giving up one to get their first win of the season.
Rochester drops to 1-1 on the season and they fall to ninth in the NLL. As for Buffalo, the win improves their record to 1-0 and they now sit in second behind the Colorado Mammoth.
The Knighthawks will be on the road for the first time this season as they head up to Vancouver to take on the Warriors next Saturday. Face-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. As for the Bandits, they will be on the road to take on the newly formed Ottawa Black Bears for the first time in franchise history next Saturday. Face-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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