Gary Groob
All Lacrosse All The Time – A Division of Edge of Philly Sports Network
Heading into Week 12, the Buffalo Bandits found themselves in a three-way tie with Toronto and Rochester for first place in the East. The Wings are in the midst of a stretch that sees them play all nine of their home games over the course of 12 contests after starting the season with three straight on the road.
Heading into Saturday’s matchup, Buffalo was 6-1 all-time against the new Wings franchise and 2-1 at home. Dating back to last season, the Bandits had won three straight games against Philadelphia.
The last time these clubs played each other, Dhane Smith’s nine points (2g,7a) in the game led the Bandits while Tehoka Nanticoke recorded a hat trick. Brad McCulley totaled four points, including the game-winning goal. In net, Vinc made 46 saves on 55 shots.
The goalie match-up had Matt Vinc in net for the Bandits facing Zach Higgins in net for Philadelphia.
Through the first half, it looked like the Wings had found the recipe to keep the Bandits at bay. The Wings would go to halftime ahead 8-5. Buffalo kept pressing and, on the strength of a Dhane Smith 10 point night, were able to come from behind to beat the Wings 13-12 in overtime.
Dhane Smith entered Saturday night’s game against the Philadelphia Wings needing 10 points to reach 900 in his career and he hit the milestone in dramatic fashion. Smith’s goal came 1:07 into exfra time giving Buffalo the victory.
“Honestly, I kind of blacked out there,”I thought they were gonna lock me off like they did before the TV timeout. I knew I could come back out top and had the advantage and just threw it on net and it went in.”
Dhane Smith on the winning goal
To The Game:
Brad McCulley got the Bandits rolling early converting an Ian MacKay feed at 1:32, but Ben McIntosh tied it up for the Wings converting a Mitch Jones pass at 4:01. Dhane Smith was able to give Buffalo the lead once again at 6:19, but just 0:40 seconds later Joe Resetarits tied it up once again. After another Brad McCulley goal, the Wings would take over the quarter.
Two power-play goals would give the Wings the lead followed by two goals from Sam LeClair, to give the Wings a three goal lead.
After one quarter, Wings 6 Bandits 3.
Second Quarter:
Ian MacKay opened the quarter’s scoring in transition off a Nick Weiss pass at 2:13. Joe Resetarits scored his second of the night off a Mitch Jones feed at 11:13, followed by Ben McIntosh with his second of the game off a Matt Rambo pass at 12:11 for an 8-4 lead. Dhane Smith scored once more for the Bandits before the half.
At the half, Philadelphia 8 Buffalo 5.
Third Quarter:
The Bandits opened up the third quarter with Kyle Buchanan converting a Dhane Smith pass at 1:14, but was answered by Joe Resetarits’ third goal of the game off a Taite Cattoni pass at 2:22.
Buffalo put together a four goal run to take the lead. Dhane Smith’s third of the evening converting a Kyle Buchanan pass at 4:10, followed by Brad McCulley on the power-play off an Ian MacKay feed at 5:23. Smith scored again, followed by Ian MacKay giving Buffalo it’s first lead since the first quarter at 11:46.
Ben McIntosh tied the game again off a Joe Resetarits pass at 12:13, followed by Mitch Jones giving the Wings the lead heading to the fourth.
After three quarters, Philadelphia 11 Buffalo 10.
Fourth Quarter:
Two power-play goals from the Bandits opened the scoring for the fourth quarter. Ian MacKay scored off a Kyle Buchanan pass at 4:01, followed by Brad McCulley scoring off a Dhane Smith pass giving Buffalo the lead. Blaze Riorden tied the game up with 4:13 left setting the stage for a nail-biter of a finish.
The teams couldn’t score the rest of the way, and we were going to overtime.
After regulation, Buffalo 12 Philadelphia 12.
Overtime:
Just 1:07 into the extra quarter Dhane Smith, on a beautiful individual effort, beat Zach Higgins low to the far side for the game winner and his 900th career point.
Final score, Buffalo 13 Philadelphia 12.
The Three Stars:
- Dhane Smith
- Brad McCulley
- Joe Resetarits
Game Stats:
- Buffalo outshot Philadelphia 54-52.
- The faceoff battle was won by Trevor Baptiste of the Wings 20-8.
- Loose balls were won by the Wings 74-59.
- The Wings went 2 for 4 on the power-play, while Buffalo went 3 for 4.
Top Scorers:
Philadelphia Wings:
- Mitch Jones 2g, 6a
- Joe Resetarits 3g, 4a
- Ben McIntosh 2g, 3a
Buffalo Bandits:
- Dhane Smith 5g, 5a
- Brad McCulley 4g, 5a
- Kyle Buchanan 1g, 6a
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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 10 years ago. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob had 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).
Mr. Groob 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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