For the ninth consecutive season, the Bandits hosted Tucker Out Lymphoma Night to help raise money for pediatric cancer care.
The Buffalo Bandits (12-4) returned home to KeyBank Center for a contest against the New York Riptide on Saturday night. The Riptide (4-12) sat seventh place in the Eastern Conference with hopes of upsetting a Bandits team that had dropped two of its last three games.
Tale of the Tape:
Buffalo is led offensively by the two-headed monster of Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne. Smith, the reigning NLL MVP, is second only to Jeff Teat in points with 108, and leads the league with 79 assists, and Byrne leads the team with 34 goals despite missing 3 games due to injury and is second to Smith with 74 points.
New York would look to get their offense going after scoring just 15 total goals in their last 2 games while going 2-9 on the power-play, both against Georgia. In their most recent outing, the Riptide offense was limited to just 7 goals, with Reilly O’Connor, Mike Burke, and Tyler Digby each scoring twice, with O’Connor also leading the team with 8 loose balls, while Jeff Teat was held off the scoresheet for just the third time all season.
The goaltending match-up had Cam Dunkerley in net for New York against Matt Vinc for the Bandits.
The New York Riptide suffered a heartbreaking 11-10 overtime loss to the Buffalo Bandits when Josh Byrne converted a Chris Cloutier pass 3:04 into the extra period for the win. The Bandits pushed hard in the fourth quarter, finally tying the game up on a Dhane Smith goal with only 0:29 seconds left in regulation. Cam Dunkerley and Matt Vinc were both excellent in goal for their respective teams.
To The Game:
Scott Dominey opened the game’s scoring for New York in transition. Dominey converted a Jeff Teat pass at 2:41, followed by Teat himself scoring off a Reilly O’Connor feed at 6:53 stunning the large crowd at the KeyBank Center. The goal was Teat’s 50th of the year.
The Bandits came to life scoring two quick goals to get back in the game. Kyle Buchanan converted a Chase Fraser pass at 8:16, followed by Ian MacKay scoring just 0:28 seconds later.
After one quarter, New York 2 Buffalo 2.
Second Quarter:
Scott Dominey scored his second transition goal of the night off a Matt Marinier feed to open the second quarter scoring at 5:36. Dhane Smith tied the game again converting a Chris Cloutier pass on the power-play at 9:45. Larson Sundown gave the lead back to the Riptide at 10:38, but was answered by Chase Fraser at 13:57.
It looked like the teams were headed to halftime tied 2-2, but with only 0:20 seconds left Jeff Teat converted a Connor Kearnan feed to give the Riptide the lead.
At the half, New York 5 Buffalo 4.
Third Quarter:
Tyler Digby opened the third quarter scoring on the power-play finishing off a Jeff Teat feed at 1:13, but Kyle Buchanan would answer back at 6:08. Mike Burke scored for the Riptide at 8:01, but Buchanan scored his second of the quarter off a Josh Byrne pass just 0:22 seconds later. Dhane Smith tied the game up unassisted at 14:12, but Digby’s second of the game restored the one goal lead for New York converting a Connor Kearnan pass with just 0:14 seconds left in the quarter.
After three quarters, New York 8 Buffalo 7.
Fourth Quarter:
Connor Kearnan gave the Riptide a two goal lead converting a Jeff Teat feed at 5:20, but Josh Byrne narrowed the game back to one with a highlight reel goal at 6:57.
Mike Burke restored the two goal lead for New York at 8:03, but two late goals from the Bandits would push this game to overtime.
After regulation, New York 10 Buffalo 10.
Overtime:
In overtime after both teams had chances to put the game away, Josh Byrne converted a Chris Cloutier pass at 3:04 to send the Bandits faithful home happy.
Final score, Buffalo 11 New York 10.
The Three Stars:
- Josh Byrne
- Dhane Smith
- Jeff Teat
Game Stats:
- Shots on goal favored Buffalo slightly at 58-57.
- The Bandits won the faceoff battle 14-11.
- Buffalo won the loose ball battle 69-58.
- New York went 1 for 2 on the power-play, while the Bandits went 2 for 3.
Top Scorers:
New York Riptide:
- Jeff Teat 2g, 4a
- Tyler Digby 2g, 1a
- Scott Dominey 2g, 1a
Buffalo Bandits:
- Dhane Smith 3g, 8a
- Josh Byrne 3g, 2a
- Chris Cloutier 0g, 5a
Don’t forget to check us out every Sunday night at 9pm (ET)
Gary Groob has been involved with Lacrosse for the majority of his life, whether playing, coaching, or covering the sport for the media.
An avid fan, with a real drive about helping to “grow the game”, Gary became part of podcasts about the game in 2010. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob was given an opportunity to write about lacrosse, and the rest as they say, is history.
Through many miles (flying and driving) Gary has made inroads with the National Lacrosse League, Major Series Lacrosse League, the Ontario Lacrosse Association, as well as the Arena Lacrosse League, covering the leagues, their teams, and players, working for, and in concert with all of them.
In the year 2020, Mr. Groob was made the media person for the Arena Lacrosse League, voted onto the board of directors of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club, as well as being made administrator of the Lacrosse page “Global Lacrosse” with a membership of 9000 members in over 90 Countries. Gary was also made an administrator of Lacrosse History Past Present and Future in 2022.
Mr. Groob co-hosts a weekly Lacrosse show on Spanglish Sports World, and ZingoTV channel 250, as well as writes a weekly lacrosse column for La Portada Canada News (both in print, and online).
Gary also hosts a Lacrosse talk show and podcast for The Edge of Philly Sports Network, seen live Sunday nights at 9pm (ET), and archived on the Edge of Philly YouTube page, as well as Spotify.
Mr. Groob’s other sports interests include Hockey, Football, Boxing, Wrestling, and Baseball, competing competitively in Boxing and Wrestling for many years.
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