Champions.

With a packed house of noisy orange clad, pom pom waving Buffalo fans on hand, the Buffalo Bandits captured their fourth indoor lacrosse title in franchise history, defeating the Portland Lumberjax 14-13 at HSBC Arena.

This city was pumped. One could feel the excitement and energy out in the streets, and in the arena tonight, as Buffalo sports fans who have gone through a dearth of good news these past ten months finally had themselves something to savor.

Portland never led in this one. The Bandits set the tone for this one right from the opening faceoff, when John Tavares got the first goal of the game at the 22 second mark on a long shot from outside. Portland tied it shortly thereafter, and the teams traded goals until Kevin Dostie got back to back netters mid way. Mark Steenhuis’ first goal of the night came as a long shot from the perimeter as the quarter was about to expire. Buffalo had themselves a 6-3 lead.

Steenhuis would add two more goals in the second period, one a long feed pass from goalie Mike Thompson. Not to be overlooked was the work Mike Accursi did to get Steenhuis open at times, playing the role of offensive lineman and taking out two Portland defenders on several occasions. Said Steenhuis “We feel two on two we have some good chemistry going. He’s a great guy to work with. He does so much grunt work that hopefully doesn’t go unnoticed.” The Bandits maintained their three goal lead into the half.

But Portland would not go away.

“I give their team a lot of credit” said John Tavares. “They hung in there and hung in there. They had some glorious opportunities. Give Portland a lot of credit for not giving up and working hard.” With Buffalo’s offense going into hibernation early in the third, the Lumberjax brought it to within one. That’s when Kevin Dostie scored yet another clutch goal to give the Bandits some cushion. Billy Dee Smith added a shorthanded netter late in the quarter, and the Buffalo margin heading into the 4th was two goals.

With the title on the line and the tension in the air, Steenhuis scored an apparent goal in the first minute of the 4th. But NO! A crease violation wiped that one out, and Portland Dan Dawson immediately took the ball down the field and sailed one past Thompson to cut their deficit to one.

That’s when the Thompson show kicked in for real.

Mike Thompson made several stunning an acrobatic saves, none more apparent then when Portland hit the crossbar, and Thompson then deflected the rebound by waving his leg into the air. “Mikey absolutely shut the door when he had to” said Coach Darris Kilgour. “It was the best save of the night.” Thompson added, “As the fourth quarter went on I could see the guys tiring a bit, but that just got me stronger and I felt as long as I keep my focus we’ll have this one.” The bench and the crowd fed on the great saves. Steenhuis then got his fifth goal of the night, and what proved to be the game winner, with just over five minutes left.

Playing without defensive specialist Chris White, who left the game early with an injury, the Bandits hunkered down, while Portland tried pulling the goalie on several occasions to get the extra attacker on the field.

Former Bandit Derek Malawsky scored with 48 seconds left to make the score 14-13. Buffalo’s subsequent possession went for naught and Portland got the ball with one last chance. The Lumberjax players swarmed the Buffalo net, but Thompson came up huge once again in the closing ticks, and time finally ran out. The celebration was on.

The crowd was a huge factor in the outcome. Said Coach Kilgour “I think you look at our record this year we were 3-4 on the road and 10-2 at home, so that says it all right there. To look in the crowd and see all the fans, the jerseys, doing all the chants. I think it has an effect on the other team as well.”

Kilgour also remarked on how the experience winning a championship as a coach differs from that of being a player. “Yeah it is different. You’re not on the floor. You’re not picking and rolling. You have to sit back and try to keep a level eye out, where as a player you go out there from shift to shift and just get rid of that excess energy.”

The celebration in the pavilion and out on the streets was loud and jubilant, but not exactly the window smashing, tipping over cars, setting fires in the streets kind of party. Fans who made it to this game were treated to a great show, and left the building happy and rewarded. Rich Kilgour said “Any championship feels good, but this was nice because we were able to do it at home for these great fans.” “We want to do it again next year” said a smiling Mike Thompson. “I’m ready to come back. I’m ready. Let’s go!”

-Best sign #1: Welcome to Banditland: Population 18,690

-Best sign #2: Mohawkland Banditland (covered an entire row)

-Best sign #3: 1-2-3- we want 4 (with a pic of the Champions Cup)

-Network acronym sign guy entry: Everyone Saw Portland’s (got) Nothin’

-Funniest line of the night: At the conclusion of the postgame press conference in the media room, Richie Kilgour chanted out “B-A-R! B-A-R! To the bar! To the bar! To the bar, to the bar, to the bar!”

-Biggest boos of the night: No, not for the Lumberjax or any visiting player. The fans reserved their scorn for Tom Golisano and Larry Quinn, when NLL Commissioner Jim Jennings mentioned their names during the trophy presentation. Both Golisano and Quinn were in attendance at the game.

-Spotted in the pressbox: Kurt Silcott, former Bandits GM.

-Best timing award: Mark Steenhuis’s game winning goal, the Bandits’ 14th of the game, came with 5:38 left on the clock, just as pressbox attendants were collecting the MVP ballots from the reporters up and down media row. Pete and I both already had Steenhuis’ name penned in on our ballots. Wonder if that huge goal swayed anymore votes?

Check back. Nathan Strang shot some great video and photos of the event, the postgame celebrations and the scene outside after the game and we’ll have it up soon. I will also have a separate post with some of the sights and sounds that Pete and I encountered celebrating downtown after the big win.
-Andrew Kulyk

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