The Buffalo Bandits become champions again

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) – The Buffalo Bandits are champions. Again!

The Bandits swept their best-of-three championship series against the Albany FireWolves with a 15-13 victory in Game 2 at KeyBank Center, winning their second straight NLL Cup and sixth championship in franchise history .

Josh Byrne, who was named the NLL’s Most Valuable Player on Friday and Offensive Player of the Year on Thursday, led the Bandits with a goal and eight assists in the victory to be named the 2024 NLL Finals MVP. Chase Fraser scored a team-high five goals and added two assists while alternate captain Dhane Smith had two goals and five assists for a seven-point performance. Goaltender Matt Vinc stopped 36 of 49 shots in the victory.

Buffalo won six of its final seven regular season games to clinch the fourth playoff spot and never looked back, earning a 10-9 overtime victory over Georgia in the single-elimination quarterfinal before sweep Toronto in best-of-three. semi-finals.

“We’re not done here,” Smith told TSN’s Brianne Foley after the game. “We want to continue. We have a great young team. We will continue here.

The Bandits will host a championship celebration on Sunday, May 19 at Alumni Square, starting at 12 p.m. The event, free and open to all fans, will begin with an orange and black carpet walk before the team gathers on stage to greet Banditland. and thank fans for their support throughout the 2023-24 season