Buffalo Bandits sweep Albany in NLL final

Chase Fraser scored a career-high five goals and Josh Byrne had eight assists as the Buffalo Bandits completed their quest for back-to-back National Lacrosse League titles Saturday night with a 15-13 victory over the FireWolves of ‘Albany at KeyBank Center.

The Bandits won the best-of-three series 2-0.

“We haven’t been dominant all year and we had to fight just to get into the playoffs and we hit our stride at the right time,” coach John Tavares said. “It takes a whole team to win a championship. We kept going this year and it wasn’t easy for us. That’s what I think of this team.”

The Bandits won the sixth title in franchise history and matched the 1992-93 club with consecutive championships.

Byrne, the NLL regular season MVP, was named final series MVP (15 points).

Buffalo was 5-6 at midseason, but finished the year with 11 wins in its final 12 games, including nine in a row.

“We have great leadership in our room and we want to put our defense away and attack people with our offense, we’re seeing the (good) results,” Bandits forward Kyle Buchanan said.

Thirteen Bandits players had at least one point.

“They’re so deep and talented offensively,” Albany coach Glenn Clark said. “Everyone talks about (Smith) and (Byrne) and rightly so, but if you look at their complementary pieces, they are so dangerous.”

As the FireWolves left the field, the Bandits celebrated. The lawn was a garage sale of equipment. Byrne climbed onto the scoreboard to greet the crowd.

Captain Steve Priolo accepted the NLL Cup at midfield and the trophy was passed from Priolo to Dhane Smith to Nick Weiss to Matt Vinc to Kyle Buchanan to Ian McKay to Fraser to Chris Cloutier.

Although the Bandits never trailed, it was far from a cruise control night.

The Bandits led by three in the first quarter…but Albany cut it to one.

The Bandits gave up five in the second quarter…but Albany cut it to two by halftime.

The Bandits led by six in the fourth quarter…but Albany cut it to three with a power play goal with 2:39 left. The FireWolves closed out the scoring with 7.5 seconds remaining.

After the FireWolves cut the lead to one goal (9-8) early in the third quarter, Buffalo went to work.

In 4:27, the Bandits dominated Albany 5-0, regaining control of the game. During the run, Fraser scored three goals and Smith and Byrne one each. Fraser’s highlight goal was a hidden trick of the ball with Byrne charging the net looking like he had the ball as Fraser scored from the other side of the area.

By the end of the third quarter, Fraser had single-game career highs in goals (five) and points (seven).

The Bandits led 15-9 with 12:05 left on Brandon Robinson’s power play goal, but the FireWolves scored the next two goals, cutting the lead to 15-11 with 10:01 left on the stunt marker from Alex Simmons as he flew over the crease.

Tye Kurtz scored the aforementioned power play goal to bring Albany within 15-12.

In the first quarter, the Bandits scored first on a shorthanded goal from Kyle Buchanan on a spinning shot at the top of the territory. After Albany tied it with 10:06 left in the first quarter, the Bandits scored the next three goals in less than three minutes.

Smith, Dylan Robinson and Brandon Robinson scored on the Bandits’ run, the final goal of a 4-on-3 power play.

The FireWolves, however, responded with two goals to close the quarter, including a power play goal with 2.4 seconds left, taking advantage of an illegal substitution penalty by the Bandits.

Byrne had four assists in the first quarter for the Bandits.

Buffalo went all out in the first 5:32 of the second quarter, scoring four straight goals.

Tehoka Nanticoke got away from a defender. Fraser scored in transition. Nailer from the top of the fold. And Fraser on a rebound. The crowd was delirious.

But Albany woke up, the Bandits gave up – or a combination of both.

The Bandits led 8-3 with 9:28 left in the second, but the FireWolves controlled the first of the quarter, scoring four of the next five goals to cut the Bandits’ lead by two (9-7) at midpoint. time. Albany’s final goal came with 0.5 seconds left in the half.

In the first half, Byrne had seven assists for Buffalo, Fraser and Smith four points each and Nanticoke three points.