NEWARK, N.J. — The Buffalo Bandits' defense of their National Lacrosse League championship ended here Saturday night not with a bang, but with a whimper.

And a softer whimper you haven't heard.

The Bandits fell to the New York Titans, 9-3, before an announced crowd of 5,644 in the

Prudential Center. That gave the Titans the East Division championship. They will play in

Calgary next weekend for the NLL title.

That number of goals for the Bandits is correct: three. For the highest-scoring team in the

league, for a team that ran up 25 goals in one game this season, it's a number that almost

defies description.

"You're not going to win when you score only three goals," Bandits coach Darris Kilgour

said. "You know where we fell down. It's back to the drawing board for next year.

"We had some opportunities, but [goalie Matt] Vinc played very well when we had to."

For comparison's sake, the Bandits' previous record low for goals in a playoff game was

nine, set in the 2006 championship game against Colorado. The team's lowest output for goals

this regular season was eight in a win against Toronto.

"They did a good job on their perimeter defense," said John Tavares of Buffalo. "We didn't

get many quality chances. Their defense played well. They're a strong and athletic team.

"Maybe it's my turn to step down. I don't know if I'll be back next year. After a game like

that, at the age of 40 you begin to doubt that you can play in a big game like this. I didn't

get it done."

That may be frustration talking for Tavares; he has until December or so to think about

that decision. Still, he and Mark Steenhuis — the league's top goal-scorers — were

blanked by the Titans. That had only happened once in the regular season.

"That certainly wasn't expected," Titans coach Ed Comeau said about Buffalo's inability to

score. "Our defense played well, and Matt Vinc stood out. Buffalo is a hard team to defense.

They can score on outside shots or from in close. We took away their pick-and-roll plays

tonight."

At the other end of the field, New York star Casey Powell didn't have a spectacular game,

or so it seemed. The Bandits tried to bounce him around a little bit. Then, they looked up at

the end of the night and saw that he had five assists to go with two goals. Therefore, he

figured in seven of the Titans' nine goals.

"Casey is one guy that even when it doesn't seem like he was doing much, you look up at the

end of the night and he's got seven points," Comeau said. "He's such a smart player."

It was a strange game at times, with most of the playoff intensity seemingly directed to

the defensive end. The first period, for example, featured only one goal, and the Titans'

Jordan Hall got it. Who knew that Buffalo would never lead in the game?

New York had a 3-1 lead after two periods, and went up, 6-1, in the midst of the third.

Sean Greenhalgh and Mike Accursi scored to give the Bandits a bit of a spark in the third

quarter, but New York came back with two goals of its own before the period was over. On the

last goal, Powell crashed the net and ran into goalie Ken Montour, who limped off the field

and was done for the night.

The 8-3 margin after three quarters seemed like more, and Powell added the exclamation

point at 4:40 of the fourth quarter. When the final buzzer sounded, the Bandits had played

their second scoreless quarter in the game.

Buffalo finished the season with an 11-7 record overall. Hopes were high for a repeat

championship this season, especially after a glittering 5-0 start. But a team that had trouble

finishing off its rivals came up empty in the end.

"I'll look back on this season with disappointment," Mike Accursi of the Bandits said. "In

the second half, we didn't show up enough. If this game had been in Buffalo, it would have

been a different game."

"I hope we learned a lesson," Kilgour said. "When we look back on this season, we'll

realize that we didn't want it enough."