The Dynasty is Dead

The Buffalo Bandits dynasty that started all the way back in 2019, is over, as Buffalo falls to the Georgia Swarm 17-10. It was a depressingly similar game to the recent one against the Oshawa Firewolves as Buffalo found themselves down 40 seconds into the game. It would only get worse from there as they fell behind 3-1 after the 1st quarter and 8-2 with 8 minutes remaining in the second quarter. The Bandits climbed back just a bit trailing 9-5 at half but were unable to go on a run of more than two goals for the entire game.  

The offense looked miserable against the high-pressure defense of Georgia. Arguably the Swarm’s best defender, rookie Michael Grace, went down with a non-contact injury early in the game. Even without him, the Swarm’s defense didn’t skip a beat. Buffalo was only able to muster 46 shots on goal with plenty of them being relatively harmless saves for Brett Dobson. While he did have a great game, the Bandits offense did not give him much of a challenge. Dhane Smith (0g, 2a) finished the game with no goals on 11 shots while Josh Byrne (1g, 5a) finished with one goal (46 seconds remaining in the game) on 7 shots. There was no flow to the offense as they could not find a way to breakdown the Swarm defense. Ian MacKay (3g, 2a) had arguably the best performance on offense, but it simply wasn’t enough. This season has largely been on the shoulders of Dhane and Josh for the offense. Combining for just one goal isn’t enough for two of the best forwards in the league. In the first half, three of the five goals scored by Buffalo were scored by defenders in transition. Those kinds of goals are great to help push a team over the edge, but they should not be outperforming the offense. It was simply a lackluster performance all around. After this season I think it is obvious the offense needs some new life injected into it. Whether that comes in the form of a signing, trade or draft pick, it was too inconsistent throughout the season. Likely having to replace the irreplaceable Kyle Buchanan and his 29 goals and 55 points won’t be easy either.  

Steve Priolo was added to the IR before the game and ruled out. He is the captain of the team and arugably their best defender. However, I did not expect his absence to have such a large impact on the defense. The defensive unit seemed disjointed, lost, and scrambled without their leader. It wasn’t simply the fact that Priolo is a great defender, and he wasn’t there to defend. Without his communication, the back end was simply out of sort. Another example of this is the fact that one of the league’s best penalty kill units allowed the Swarm to score on 3-of-4 power play opportunities. Without Priolo organizing the penalty kill, the unit was weaker. However, I am not sure even with him in the lineup, how much of a difference it would have made in the result. Mitch de Snoo had a great game on paper finishing with 1 goal, 1 assist, 9 loose balls and a team leading 3 caused turnovers. If you watched the game though, you saw a different version of events. De Snoo was one of the Bandits' best defenders this season, especially when the team has a lead or in a close game. When the game starts to slip away, so does Mitch. He goes rogue and tries to be the hero of the moment, cutting a five-goal lead with a single defensive possession. Often times it seems to harm the team, more than help. I would still love to see de Snoo back as a Bandit for another few seasons. He simply needs to know when to go wild and when to reign it in. Paul Dawson didn’t have his typical monster shot blocking game. However, he looked solid and played well as a true defender. What he has meant to Vinc and the shot blocking leadership he has brought to the team will be a tough act to follow. Matt Vinc was not on his game. He finished making plenty of big saves throughout the contest as he tried to keep the score close, but even he was not in typical playoff form. He allowed too many outside shots to sneak by him forcing the defense to change how they played causing the system to crumble further than it already had. Georgia deserves a ton of credit for what they were able to do, but the Bandits made it easier on them than it should have been. It seems as if it is Vinc’s last run as well. The legacy Vinc leaves behind will likely never be forgotten. I hope we see him behind the bench for the team, and his jersey retired as a Bandit. Replacing Vinc will be impossible, but the Bandits will need to find a new backstop for the first time in years making for an interesting off-season.  

The Buffalo Bandits magical run of five straight championship appearances and three straight championship victories has finally come to an end. As upsetting as the loss may have been, I’m glad the team went for the championship with this group one last time. It would have been easy for players like Buchanan, Dawson and Vinc to hang it up after three straight championships and go off into the sunset. However, that’s not what fierce competitors do when they know they have gas left in the tank. All three of them had incredible seasons. The Bandits went on a 7-game win streak to make playoffs and make the opportunity a reality. This season will be remembered as the season that ended it all, but that doesn’t mean the season was a total failure. The dynasty may be over, but the next chapter is just beginning.  

Goaltender Breakdown         

In this segment, I will breakdown how the goalies, offense and defense all performed on the goals in the game. How many were impressive goals, breakdowns in the defense or on the goalie.          

Brett Dobson 

Inside – 4 

Mid-Range - 3 

Outside – 3 

Transition - 3 

*1 goal was on the penalty kill      

*0 empty net goals  

Matt Vinc           

Inside – 6 

Mid-Range - 1 

Outside – 8 

Transition - 1 

*3 of the goals were on the penalty kill        

Goal 1 – De Snoo is out of position and very slow on his switch off giving Thompson too much time and space and he picks his spot (D) 

Goal 2 – Benedict simply runs around high, fires on his off-side and beats Vinc (V) 

Goal 3 – De Snoo again gets a bit lost on a switch and Benedict fires a low outside shot with Wyers screening Vinc (D) 

Goal 4 – A far outside bounce shot by N. Byrne, hard to see if Vinc was screened again by a jumping Whitty but it looked like one he should have had (V) 

Goal 5 – PP Goal – Great player movement and passing by Georgia leads to a quick stick on the back side 

Goal 6 – Whitty is slow to close the gap on Jackson while Dooley is screening Vinc on an outside bouncer 

Goal 7 – PP Goal – N. Byrne finds a soft spot at the top of the power play and rifles one past Vinc as Vinc goes down and Byrne shoots high. Vinc possibly screened again.  

Goal 8 – Dooley misses a switch as Spanger gets picked freeing up Jackson on the far side for a quick stick goal (D) 

Goal 9 – Connell rips one from outside, Vinc may have been screened again as Connell shoots around multiple players 

Goal 10 – Whitty gets picked and does not follow his man on the switch allowing a quick stick goal by Thompson (D) 

Goal 11 – Trumble comes out of the penalty box straight to a breakaway and beats Vinc 

Goal 12 – Weiss caught ball watching as the ball is behind the net, gets passed to his man right in front for the diving goal by Cole (D) 

Goal 13 – Moon passes to Thompson behind the net who does a quick wraparound dunk 

Goal 14 – Connell shoots around de Snoo who is slow to get out on a switch and beats Vinc low 

Goal 15 – de Snoo gets a bit lazy and allows Thompson to drive to the middle and fire a shot far side, probably one Vinc wants back as well (V) 

Goal 16 – PP Goal – Jackson with a hard bounce shot  

Goal 17 – Connell with a no look 180 jump shot as time expires on the shot clock 

3/17 on Vinc      

5/17 on the defense    

Challenges by the Bandits – 0/1  

Buffalo challenged the diving goal scored by Thompson. From certain angles I understand why Buffalo threw the challenge, but from the overhead view Thompson kept his feet out of the crease. Good call on the floor and it was upheld. 

Referee Corner          

Like many of the fans out there, I find myself often questioning what the refs are doing on the field. From no goals and players being ejected, to calls that simply do not make sense. In this segment, I will attempt to use the rulebook and my best judgement to understand some hot topics from the previous game.              

Bandits – 1-2 on the PP         

Swarm – 3-4 on the PP              

P. Dawson – Illegal Cross – It wasn’t much of a hit, but it does look like he gets him up high in the head – goodish call 

M. de Snoo – Unsportsmanlike Conduct – de Snoo clearly kicks Macintosh’s stick away from him. Two of the refs missed it but the one closest got it – good call 

N. Weiss – Illegal Cross Checking – Weiss gets his cross check up high on Byrne – good call 

Z. Belter – Dead Ball Foul – Belter took a healthy slash at Benedict after the whistle – good call 

3.5/4 – good calls     

I think the referees did a fine job. I think they missed a few calls against both teams, but it’s playoff lacrosse, and they called what needed to be called.