Bandits top Blazers, head to NY…sort of.

After defeating the Boston Blazers 11-8 on Saturday night, the Buffalo Bandits are moving onto the National Lacrosse League’s Eastern Division Finals. The Bandits will be taking on the New York Titans on Saturday, May 9th at 7:30pm. The Titans have shuffled venues quite a bit this season. After defeating Rochester on Friday night in Madison Square Garden, the top seeded Titans will host their second round game with Buffalo in New Jersey.The game itself will be played at the Prudential Center, the home of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.

The Bandits started off hot, taking an early 4-1 lead. Two goals from Mark Steenhuis, and one each from Cory Bomberry and Kyle Schmelzle got the Bandits going.  The game was intense from the start. It’s expected being the playoffs, but the Bandits really came out playing smash mouth lacrosse. Off of every faceoff they pressured the Blazers to get the ball over half and finished checks accordingly. In the 2nd quarter Johnny Tavares took a breakaway pass shorthanded and buried it, making it 6-4 Buffalo. The Bandits then took a 7-6 lead into the half.

In  the 3rd quarter the Bandits certainly cooled down on offense as they were held to no goals. Their defense didn’t exactly slack though, as Boston only managed one goal. Ken Montour was hot in goal for the Bandits and one of the main reason the defense held it together despite the lack of scoring.

Once the 4th quarter hit, the Bandits knew it was crunch time. A team loaded with veterans, the Bandits outscored the Blazers 4-1 in in the final quarter. Two more goals from Steenhuis, a Tavares goal, and a Tommy Montour empty netter sealed the deal for Buffalo. In goal, Ken Montour finished with 47 saves on 55 shots, and was CO-MVP along with Tavares (2 G 4 A) and Steenhuis (4 G).

Next up, the Bandits face a Titans team who beat Buffalo both times this season. Can the Titans sweep the Bandits this season? I don’t think so. The Bandits are loaded with guys who’ve been there, and the playoffs are another level of lacrosse. The crowd won’t be a factor, if anything, there will likely be more Bandits fans than Titans fans making the trip. If the Bandits can score early, and get into goalie Matt Vinc’s head, they can be successful. That’s the key in beating one of the leagues top goalies. Staying out of the penalty box would help too, a theme the Bandits are slowly going back to. It should be a great game, and for those not making the trip, the game can be seen live, per usual, on the leagues website.

Rough and tough Bandits have weekend showdowns

Johnny... WHO?

The Buffalo Bandits (9-4) are in. They’ve clinched their 14th playoff appearance, as a 18 year old franchise.  By defeating the Boston Blazers this past Saturday, the Bandits locked up their spot in the NLL playoffs. What seed, and where they’ll play has yet to be determined however.

Ahead for the Bandits this weekend are two familiar foes. On Friday night (April 10th) the Rochester Knighthawks (6-7) make the trip down the I-90 West to HSBC arena for a 7:30pm faceoff. The two teams have met twice already this season, with the Bandits destroying the Knighthawks back on January 16th, 23-6. The other meeting was an overtime win for Rochester on March 14th.

These two teams know each other well. There is no better rivalry in the National Lacrosse League than these teams. They just simply hate each other. There’s no love lost between the fans during games either. Before and after the games, Buffalo and Rochester fans alike gather for beers and food, but during those 60 minutes of game play, they are bitter rivals.

Buffalo comes into the game looking for lock up the Eastern Division and is also fighting with Calgary to lockup the top seed in the entire playoffs, which would clinch home field throughout the playoffs. The game doesn’t mean as much for Rochester, despite their poor record. They only need to beat the Philadelphia Wings in their season finale, to clinch a playoff spot. Though I’m sure a win here, on the road would be big for them. Rochester is a lowly 1-5 on the road this season. Look for Buffalo’s leading scorer, Mark Steenhuis to continue his tear, as he leads the Bandits with 90 (45 G 45 A) points thus far. The expected goaltending matchup will likely showcase Kenny Montour for Buffalo, and Pat O’Toole for Rochester. Montour has proved to be the #1 guy for the Bandits in goal this season, he’s 7-2, and also leads the league in Save percentage, and Goals Against Average.

On Saturday night, the Bandits will be heading to New Jersey and the Prudential Center to take on the New York Titans (8-6). New York clinched a playoff berth Sunday after they defeated Philadelphia.  The Titans also handed the Bandits their most recent loss, an 11-9 win for the Titans back on March 28th in HSBC arena. Goalie Matt Vinc, a Canisius College alum and lacrosse player, was stellar in goal for New York that game, and he’ll likely get the start again Saturday.  The Bandits will be looking to avenge their last loss, and hopefully had to a nice weekend with two wins. It’ll be no easy task, as New York is playing well right now having won 3 of their last 4 and led by Casey Powell who has 69 points in just 11 games this season.

If the Bandits can come away with two wins this weekend, that sets them up at 11-4 and would clinch the Eastern Divisional title, and gave them home floor advantage for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs. This is a big weekend for the Bandits and their fists with back to back games this season. Should be an exciting weekend of Bandits lacrosse!

Fast Facts:

-Mark Steenhuis is 3rd in the NLL in points with 90. (Colin Doyle and Dan Dawson are ahead of him, but Steenhuis has a game in hand on them) Steenhuis does lead the NLL in goals, with 45, only 3 of which were on the Power Play.

- 40 year old veteran Johnny Tavares is 7th in the league in points with 77. He is however, 2nd in goals.

-Tavares and Steenhuis are both tied for the league lead in Game Winning Goals, with 3 each.

Bills/Bolts Preview

Trent Edwards is 100% for Sundays game.

Hola Bills fans. Heres a nice little preview of the upcoming game this Sunday between San Diego and Buffalo. I’ll do a quick summary of each position and the at the end, give the advantage to one of the teams.

Quarterback: All signs are pointing to Trent Edwards getting the nod for the Bills. Hopefully he’ll be 100% because we already know what we get from JP Losman, and its certainly not enough to be a competitive football team. Trent is accurate, poised and knows the offense unlike anyone we’ve seen here in a while. I’m just worried about a little rust and recovering from that punishing hit he took in Arizona. His counterpart, Philip Rivers is having an amazing year. Hes 8th the NHL in passing yards per game, tied for first in touchdown passes, and first i QB rating. Thats certainly an impressive start to the season for Rivers.

ADVANTAGE: San Diego

Running Back: This is a battle of the heavyweights. We all know about LT, and we all know about Marshawn Lynch. The thing that makes this match up even better, is the weapons that back these guys up. For Buffalo, it’s Fred Jackson, a guy who came out of no where and is a key point in our offense, he can run and catch out of the backfield. Hes great when Marshawn needs a breather, and always seems to find a hole. For the Bolts, Darren Sproles is one fast man. Hes a threat in the kick return and hes averaging 6.2 yards a carry! This should be fun to watch, and it’s too hard to pick a winner.

ADVANTAGE: Push

Wide Receiver: Lee Evans is sure proving worth as to why we extended him. Hes been fantastic all season long. Don’t forget about Josh Reed. People who don’t pay attention to games still boo him and think hes terrible because of the sophomore slump he had. What they don’t realize is how great of a blocker he is and what a 3rd down threat he is against defenses. It’s also going to help getting Roscoe Parrish back this weekend because of his explosiveness and ability to score in a flash. For San Diego, Chris Chambers is banged up and missed last week. He’s questionable for Suday. Vincent Jackson had a huge game against New England Sunday and has solid all year in the very good passing attack of the Chargers. I just think the Bills have more depth and options, especially if they continue to get Hardy into the mix.

ADVANTAGE: Bills

Offensive Line: The Bills run blocking, or lack there of, has been putrid. Not to mention the play of Melvin Fowler, who is the worst linemen on the team. We need an upgrade there bad. It doesn’t help that Jason Peters isn’t playing like he wants a new contract and has been below average. Meanwhile, the Chargers line has been blocking for one of the best passing offenses this season. No questions here.

ADVANTAGE: Chargers

Tight End: Theres nothing to discuss here. Antonio Gates > Robert Royal. It’s not even close.

Advantage: Chargers:

Defensive Line: What a pick up Marcus Stroud has been for the Bills. He’s a space eater that makes his presence known. Kyle Williams is also doing a nice job in the middle. Our pass rush hasn’t been that great, as Schobel and Kelsay aren’t quite doing the job they’re capable of. However San Diegos defensive line hasn’t been anything to brag about either. This ones close, but Stroud is a difference maker.

ADVANTAGE: Buffalo

Linebackers: Poz and Mitchell haven’t been amazing this year, but they haven’t been bad. Ellison is Ellison. There isn’t much to say about San Diegos linebackers either, especially with Shawn “Lights Out!” Merriman out for the season. This ones pretty much a wash.

ADVANTAGE: Push

Secondary: Terrance McGee is out for Sunday, Ashton Youboty is a game time decision. Thats two of the Bills top 3 CBs out. The good thing is, the Chargers pass defense is one of the worst in the league. With Chris Chambers and Buster Davis out for the Chargers, it should make things a little easier for the Bills pass defense. With Roscoe Parrish back, and a healthy QB and WR corps, thats not a good thing for the already bad secondary that the Chargers have.

ADVANTAGE: Bills

Special Teams: Darren Sproles is a great return man, but come on, we got Bobby freakin April. No contest.

ADVANTAGE: Bills

All in all this game is going to be very close, and an all out war. Both needs need this game. Buffalo needs to stay ahead of the pack, and beat a good team, especially at home. It would be huge heading down to Miami at 5-1. Meanwhile, the Chargers don’t want to fall to 3-4 (yes I know thats an obvious John Madden type comment) and be put in a real tough spot. I think being at home, after a bad loss, and coming off a bye, with lots of time to prepare, the Bills squeak it out, and prove their doubters wrong.

Bills win 27-21