Bandits outlast Blazers
11-8 win puts Buffalo in East Division final
It was the Buffalo Bandits’ turn to take control of a game with the Boston Blazers in the fourth quarter. That’s why the Bandits are headed to the East Division final of the National Lacrosse League playoffs.
The Bandits won the first-round playoff game with the Blazers, recording an 11-8 victory before 13,343 in HSBC Arena. Buffalo earned the chance to play the New York Titans for the East championship. That game will be played in the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The Bandits were coming off a regular- season finale in which they blew a five-goal lead and lost to the Blazers. There was none of that Saturday, but that didn’t make it easy.
“This one was a character win for sure,” Buffalo goalie Ken Montour said. “We needed all 18 players for us tonight. It was a big win.”
With the score tied, 7-7, entering the fourth quarter, Buffalo turned to its two offensive stars to take control. John Tavares scored the tiebreaking goal with 13:34 left in the game, and Mark Steenhuis added a pair of goals after that to put the Bandits in charge.
Tavares and Steenhuis finished in a tie for the league lead in goals during the regular season with 52, and they combined for six goals Saturday. It’s difficult to shut them down for 60 minutes.
“I have to take my hat off to Cory [Bomberry] and Mike [Accursi],” said Steenhuis, who had four goals. “They are the workhorses. They were the guys that created space that allowed me to get open. I might do the scoring, but give the credit to them.”
“Those guys [Tavares and Steenhuis] are game-breakers,” Montour said. “As long as the score is close, we always know we’ve got a chance with those two in our lineup. They showed it tonight.”
Tom Montour ended the last bit of suspense with an empty-netter for Buffalo, allowing the Bandits to finally exhale. For 45 minutes, this was a game that was up for grabs. Boston had an good-sized edge in shots, particularly in the first half (31-20). But the Blazers were down by a goal after 30 minutes, in spite of Dan Dawson’s six assists (he finished with seven). Ken Montour deserved much of the credit for that.
“Kenny has done a great job for us all season long,” Buffalo coach Darris Kilgour said. “I don’t know if I’ve seen a goalie be as hot as he’s been for as long as this.”
In the third quarter, the game came to a virtual standstill on offense. There was a total of one goal scored in 15 minutes, as Daryl Veltman of Boston scored at 13:53. Montour was a major reason why, as he got good looks at most of the incoming shots.
“The defense played very well tonight,” Montour said. “We got a lot of good pressure. When we needed to slide over, we did that. We picked up a lot of ground balls.”
“I don’t think we adjusted. I think we kept pounding them,” defenseman Chris White said. “With our defense, it wears teams down. Eventually, I don’t think they wanted to go to the middle. You paid a price.”
When Buffalo finally grabbed the lead in the fourth quarter, Boston was unable to respond one last time.
“There were so many close plays out there,” Blazers coach Tom Ryan said. “You have to give Buffalo credit. Their defense played really well. Buffalo deserved to win the game.”
The Bandits’ dream of defending their NLL championship is still alive after a reminder that nothing comes easily at this time of the year.
“I think we’re pretty happy, but I think this team is veteran enough to know that it’s not over, that it’s one game and it’s three games we have to win,” Kilgour said.
Buffalo’s task is a big one. New York won both games of the series against the Bandits, and that last regular- season loss cost Buffalo the home-field advantage for the game.
“Now we go to New York,” White said. “We want some revenge. We owe those guys big-time.”
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