INDOOR LACROSSE
Bandits beginning key stretch against top division foes
A look at the standings in the East Division of the National Lacrosse League is very instructive at this point in the season.
The Buffalo Bandits are on top of the division with an 8-3 record. The Boston Blazers are a game back at 7-4, and the New York Titans are two out at 6-5. Everyone else is under .500.
Here’s the interesting part: The Bandits have yet to play the Blazers or the Titans this season.
That all changes tonight. The Bandits host New York in HSBC Arena (7:30 p. m., Radio 1520 AM, webcast on NLL.com) in a game that screams out the start of the homestretch of the 16- game schedule.
“We are focusing on the next three or four games,” Bandits coach Darris Kilgour said. “These are really big. It’s a good stretch for us, as we set up the playoff seedings. If we lose focus in this stretch, there’s going to be a lot of trouble.”
The Bandits will play four of their five remaining games against their major divisional rivals, with a home game against Rochester stuck in the middle.
“We’re building toward playing that last game of the year in the playoffs,” defenseman Chris White said. “Every game, we’re working to get better. We haven’t played these two teams. But the league is very talented. You have to come to play every night. You can’t take any of these teams lightly. If you do, you are going to lose.”
The Bandits should be coming into this stretch in a good frame of mind. The team’s defense had been a concern during a 2-3 run after a 5-0 start, as opponents had averaged 16 goals per game in that span. That was far too many for anyone connected with the Bandits.
Last week against Portland, the Bandits were more or less airtight in winning, 14-4. It was the fewest number of goals Buffalo had allowed in a game this season. The LumberJax scored only once in the second half.
“I thought we did a great job of doing what we needed to do as individuals,” Kilgour said. “You usually never want to talk about individuals in a team atmosphere, but teams are made up of individuals. You have to do your own job. It affects the guy next to you.
“We were sitting there, waiting for a teammate to fail, and that turned into everyone not doing their job. We had to get back to the guys worrying about what they were doing.”
New York is second to Buffalo in the division in scoring with 132 goals in 11 games; the Bandits have scored a league-leading 165 goals. The Titans have three big guns in Pat Maddalena (55 points), Jordan Hall (55 points) and Casey Powell (52 points in only eight games).
“They have a lot of Americans,” White said. “You know they are going to be quick, and very athletic.”
White almost got a chance to be on the same team as Powell for a game, as they were both named to the East All- Star team earlier this month. But Powell missed the game with an injury.
“He’s a good player,” White, an Ontario native, said. “He’s very agile, sees the floor well. He’s one of the top players in the league. You’ve got to pay attention to him. He’ll hurt you around the net if you don’t.”
The Bandits can clinch a playoff berth this weekend with a win tonight, a loss by Philadelphia and one loss out of two games this weekend by Toronto. Kilgour is only concerned with trying to win tonight.
“We have to make it our game,” he said. “If we slow down the pace, make it a five-on-five control game, we have a good chance of doing that.”
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John Tavares of the Bandits was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Week for his four-goal, three-assist performance against Portland last week. Goalie Ken Montour earned Defensive Player of the Week honors after stopping 34 of 38 shots.
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