Vinc scores goal; Bandits back in win column

MATT VOLZ

Editor in Chief

It’s been a long time since January 2008.

At the time, George W. Bush was president, the New England Patriots were a Super Bowl win away from a perfect season and the Buffalo Bandits were on their way to a fourth championship in team history.

Matt Vinc was the goaltender for the New York Titans, a now-defunct team in the NLL.

On January 12 of that year, Vinc scored an empty-net goal in a 14-11 win over the Portland Lumberjax, another team that doesn’t exist anymore.

In the 17 years since, the star goalie hadn’t found the back of the net again.

That was until Saturday in Colorado.

With less than a minute left and the Bandits up 14-10, he decided to take his shot at the empty net on the other end of the building.

He buried it.

According to Bandits sideline reporter Dave Buchanan, it may be the first goalie goal in team history.

It’s difficult to trace some stats from the early years of the league, but according to nllstats.com, it’s the first since at least 2005.

Vinc’s goal was a neat moment at the end of a solid performance by the Bandits, which they needed.

Over the last couple weeks, the Bandits haven’t quite looked like themselves.

After a home win over the last-place Las Vegas Desert Dogs on Friday, March 21, they suffered back-to-back losses against teams in the bottom half of the standings, with both games decided by just one goal.

They still remained in first place in the NLL, thanks to a couple of losses by the second-place Saskatchewan Rush.

Saturday’s win further solidified that spot.

Dhane Smith opened the scoring five minutes in, with Josh Byrne and Nick Weiss picking up assists.

A couple minutes later, Kyle Buchanan got on the board with assists coming from transition players Kiel Matisz and Thomas Whitty.

With three minutes and change left in the opening quarter, Byrne got loose on a breakaway and fired it past Colorado netminder Dillon Ward to give Buffalo a 3-0 lead.

Vinc stuffed Colorado’s offense for almost the entire opening frame, but a Ryan Lee shot put the Mammoth on the board with 44 seconds left.

Part of Buffalo’s success is derived from their secondary scoring.

When it’s not just Smith and Byrne filling the back of the net, it’s hard to take down the twice-defending champs.

After a Buchanan goal was disallowed, Clay Scanlan received a pass from Smith and slammed the ball past Ward to put Buffalo back up by three.

Connor Kelly answered back for Colorado, scoring in his first game back from injury.

He hadn’t played since a win over Calgary on March 1, and he fired one past Vinc to cut the deficit to 4-2.

It would take Buffalo nearly five minutes to get one back, but in the meantime, Vinc was dynamite, keeping Colorado shooters at bay.

When the Bandits did strike again, it was Scanlan finding the back of the net for the second time.

Saturday was just the second multi-goal game ever for the rookie out of nearby Irving, N.Y., and it broke a scoring drought that had lasted nearly a month.

That would be all for Buffalo’s offense in the first half, and goals by Lee and Jordan Gilles made it a 5-4 game at the halfway point.

At halftime, I pointed out that Buffalo’s offense wasn’t getting much through Ward.

That changed in the third quarter.

After a shot by Connor Robinson tricked by Vinc to tie the game, Chase Fraser narrowly beat the shot clock and scored to give the Bandits the lead back.

It wouldn’t last long though.

Lee picked up a hat-trick goal with eight and a half minutes left in the quarter to tie the game, 6-6.

That was as close as Colorado would get.

Buchanan scored on the power play with just under five minutes left in the quarter, a snipe which would mark the only power-play goal of the entire game.

From there, the onslaught was on.

Just 27 seconds later, Smith buried a shot to extend Buffalo’s lead.

The goal was a significant one for him, as he reached 1,200 career points with the marker.

Still, the Bandits weren’t done.

Exactly 27 seconds after Smith’s goal, Ian MacKay joined the party to make it three Buffalo goals in just 54 seconds.

Trailing 9-6 just moments after being tied, Colorado was not able to recover, as the Bandits would lead the rest of the way.

Will Malcom scored for Colorado with just under two minutes to play in the quarter, but Buffalo struck right back.

Goals from MacKay and Byrne in the final minute gave the Bandits a four-goal lead with 15 minutes left to play.

At the start of the fourth quarter, MacKay picked up right where he left off, scoring a hat-trick goal to put the Bandits up 12-7.

The goals brought MacKay up to 33 goals on the year, which ranks second on the team only to Byrne.

The transition player’s goal scoring has been an unexpected addition to an already lethal Buffalo attack.

The offense doesn’t have to do it all themselves, either, as defenders and transition players have had their share of goals as well.

Dylan Robinson reaffirmed that shortly after MacKay’s third goal, and the Bandits jumped out to a six-goal lead.

The Mammoth would answer back with a second goal from Kelly, but Buchanan quickly responded with a goal of his own, making it a hat-trick for number 91 as well.

Back-to-back goals for Malcom got him a hat trick and brought Colorado within four, but that was it.

Vinc shut the Mammoth down the rest of the way, and of course, added a goal of his own to seal a 15-10 win.

The win brought Buffalo to 12-4 on the season ahead of their final regular season home game, a matchup with the third-place Halifax Thunderbirds at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 12.

With a win, the Bandits would lock up the top seed in the NLL playoffs.

I’d like to also add that April 12 is my mom’s birthday, so if the Bandits could get a win for her, that would be great.

Maybe the biggest thing that stuck out to me in this game was the number of penalties.

In some games this year, the Bandits have gotten themselves into trouble with too many trips to the box.

Not only did they limit that on Saturday, they didn’t take a single penalty in the entire game.

If Buffalo can continue to play clean lacrosse, and if the depth and Vinc can continue firing on all cylinders, there’s no reason to believe this team can’t go get a third straight championship.

MATT’S HIGH FIVES

During every Bandits game, when the team scores, my family and I all send each other high fives over text.

It’s a way to keep in touch and all enjoy the game together, no matter where we are.

So, I thought it could be fun to share some high fives with my top five performers from each game.

This week’s high fives go to:

Matt Vinc: Who else could get the first high five? A rock-solid game in net AND a goalie goal? The old veteran is on fire at the right time.

Ian MacKay: Another game, another stellar offensive showing for MacKay. What a season the transition player has had.

Dhane Smith: Only scored twice, but the second goal got him to 1,200 career points. Another milestone in an illustrious career.

Josh Byrne: Buffalo’s leading goal scorer also notched an achievement, reaching 600 points in his career. He will likely be right up there with Smith when it’s all said and done.

Kyle Buchanan: It was a toss-up between him and Scanlan, but Buchanan gets it with a hat-trick and a would-be fourth goal that was waved off. Couldn’t go wrong with either choice, though.

That’s all for this week’s edition of RE: Lax Recaps, and we’ll catch you all next week!