Shawn Slaght, All Lacrosse All The time – A Division of the Edge of Philly Sports Network
The Buffalo Bandits had a huge second half as they steamrolled over the Swarm 18-9 in Georgia on Saturday night.
Holding a 10-6 lead at the half, Buffalo dominated by outscoring the Swarm 8-3 through the third and fourth quarters.
Rookie Brett Dobson saw the bulk of the action on goal for the Swarm. Unfortunately, in 48:48 of work Dobson stopped 29 shots but allowed 14 goals in the loss. On the other end of the floor, Matt Vinc did what Matt Vinc does. He stopped 30 of 38 shots for the win. Devlin Shanahan was just under 3:30 of action allowing one goal off of three shots.
Buffalo got a lot of production out of Tehoka Nanticoke and Kyle Buchanan with eight points each. Josh Byrne had a hat trick and six points, while Brandon Robinson had five goals and one assist. Dhane Smith was the playmaker with seven assists.
Bandit dominate first quarter
Nanticoke would get the Bandits on the board first, finding the back on the net 1:06 into the game. A couple of minutes later, Andrew Kew would reply for Georgia to make it 1-1.
From there it was all Bandits. Buchanan scored with 11:04 on the clock to start a four-goal run for Buffalo. Nanticoke scored his second of the quarter at the 9:25 mark and Buchanan had his second at 6:51. Brandon Robinson rounded out the run with 6:26 left in the quarter.
Lyle Thompson came through with nine seconds left in the quarter to stop the momentum, but Buffalo held an early 5-2 lead.
Swarm keeps pace in the second
Buffalo busted the game wide open to start the second quarter. Byrnes scored 23 seconds into the frame to start another four-goal run for the Bandits.
Buchanan scored 1:05 into the second to make it 7-2 and Byrne struck again with 10:37 on the clock to extend the lead to 8-2. Brandon Robinson found the back of the net 23 seconds later to round out the run.
Once again, it was up to Lyle Thompson to stop the momentum. He scored at 8:47 to start a three-goal run for the Swarm to help keep them in the game. Also scoring for the Swarm were Kew and Ryan Lanchbury.
Nanticoke would make it 10-5 for Buffalo with 2:52 left in the second and Kew would get Georgia back within four with 1:31 left in the quarter to make it 10-6 at the half.
Bandits dominate the third
It was all Buffalo Bandits in the third quarter as they put in four goals, while Vinc stopped all the shots he faced in the quarter.
Byrne opened the second half scoring 2:23 into the third quarter and then it was Brandon Robinson scoring three straight for the Bandits.
The huge third quarter put the Bandits ahead 14-6 heading into the final frame.
Buffalo for the win
Brad McCulley and Ian MacKay scored 30 seconds apart for the Bandits to open the fourth quarter scoring to extend the Bandits’ lead to 10.
TJ Comizio would get the Swarm back on the board at 7:46 of the fourth quarter, but the Swarm already dug a hole too deep to get out of.
The Bandits immediately killed any momentum Georgia may have regained with goals from Nanticoke and MacKay.
Lyle Thompson and Jordan MacIntosh scored late for the Swarm, but the Bandits would take the 18-9 win.
Top Scorers
Buffalo Bandits
Tehoka Nanticoke, 4g 4a
Kyle Buchanan, 3g 5a
Dhane Smith, 7a
Georgia Swarm
Andrew Kew, 3g 3a
Lyle Thompson, 3g 2a
Ryan Lanchbury, 1g 2a
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Shawn Slaght has been a sports reporter across the Canadian prairies for over 10 years and has experience covering everything from junior hockey to World Cup skiing to all levels of lacrosse. He is the Saskatchewan correspondent for All Lacrosse All The Time.
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