How It Looked

SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
Buffalo - Cory Bomberry (Kevin Dostie, Dan Teat) 0:33
Buffalo - Brett Bucktooth (shorthanded) (Delby Powless, Kevin Dostie) 2:48
Rochester - Mike Accursi (Shawn Williams, Stephen Hoar) 4:05
Buffalo - Rich Kilgour (shorthanded) (John Tavares) 6:14
Rochester - Shawn Williams (powerplay) (Mike Accursi, Shawn Evans (sh)) 6:41
Rochester - Shawn Evans (sh) (powerplay) (John Grant, Scott Evans (sc)) 7:23
Rochester - John Grant (shorthanded) (Ken Millin, Chris Schiller) 9:16
Rochester - Scott Evans (sc) (shorthanded) (Pat OToole) 10:21
Buffalo - Kevin Dostie (powerplay) (Cory Bomberry, Delby Powless) 11:47
Rochester - Mike Accursi (Bill Greer, Ken Millin) 12:31
Buffalo - Cory Bomberry (powerplay) (Kevin Dostie, Delby Powless) 13:51

2nd Quarter
Buffalo - Kevin Dostie (John Tavares) 1:36
Rochester - John Grant (Stephen Hoar, Scott Ditzell) 2:25
Buffalo - Mark Steenhuis (unassisted) 2:42
Buffalo - Brett Bucktooth (Jason Crosbie) 4:22
Buffalo - John Tavares (Pat McCready, Mike Thompson) 14:09

3rd Quarter
Buffalo - Mark Steenhuis (unassisted) 10:14
Rochester - Mike Accursi (Shawn Williams, Ken Millin) 11:35
Buffalo - Jason Crosbie (John Tavares) 14:34

4th Quarter
Rochester - Mike Accursi (Shawn Williams, Scott Evans (sc)) 0:26
Buffalo - John Tavares (unassisted) 1:20
Rochester - Scott Evans (sc) (Mike Accursi, Shawn Williams) 2:02
Rochester - Scott Evans (sc) (Shawn Williams, Shawn Evans (sh)) 11:27
Rochester - Sandy Chapman (Luke Forget, Bill Greer) 12:06
Rochester - Mike Accursi (unassisted) 12:37
Buffalo - Delby Powless (Dan Teat) 13:17

Overtime
Rochester - John Grant (Scott Evans (sc)) 0:26

Better Luck Next Year

The Rochester Knighthawks defeated the Buffalo Bandits, 14-13, in a come-from-behind overtime victory at Blue Cross Arena on Friday evening. John Grant was the hero of the evening, scoring the game-winner only 26 seconds into overtime.

NLL Highlights On YouTube

The National Lacrosse League, today announced a content deal with YouTube, the leader in online video, to deliver original, short form video content to the YouTube community. The agreement will enable users to watch weekly video highlights of NLL games, player interviews and behind the scenes content on the official NLL Brand Channel on YouTube (www.youtube.com/nll).

"We're excited to develop a relationship with YouTube, the leader in online video, to offer lacrosse fans an interactive means of watching both NLL videos and user created lacrosse videos," said National Lacrosse League Commissioner Jim Jennings. "With YouTube's vast and growing popularity, we're excited to provide their community of users and lacrosse fans alike, another great way to access NLL action. I will also be posting all of the Bandits videos posted on the site so keep chcking back for updates.
GO BANDITS!
-Bandits Blogger

It Comes Down To This!

Two Eastern Division rivals hope to take another step towards ending their title droughts this weekend when the Rochester Knighthawks host the Buffalo Bandits at 8:05 pm eastern on Friday. Despite both teams being annual playoff contenders, (Rochester 13 consecutive playoff appearances, Buffalo five consecutive playoff appearances), neither team has won a title since the Knighthawks beat Buffalo 15-12 in the 1997 Championship Game. Buffalo's last title came in 1996. With a victory in Friday's contest, one of the two teams will have another shot at ending their title drought in the Championship Game on May 12th.

Since Rochester beat Buffalo in 1997 for the NLL title, the two teams have combined for a 0-5 record in Championship Games. Rochester has been to the title game three times since and Buffalo has been there twice in that span, and neither team has won.

In Buffalo vs. Rochester playoff history, the two teams have met seven times, with Rochester holding the all-time advantage, four wins to three. Friday night's match-up will be the fifth consecutive season in which the two clubs will meet in the playoffs. Most recently Buffalo beat Rochester 15-10 in the Eastern Divisional Final last season in Buffalo, before the Bandits stumbled at home to Colorado in the Championship Game, 16-9.

"I don't think there are a lot of secrets between the two teams," said Knighthawks Head Coach Ed Comeau. "It's maybe going to come down to who gets some bounces on Friday night."

This season the Knighthawks carry the momentum, heading into the contest with the second longest winning streak (14 games) in NLL history. Rochester also carries a 9-0 record at home this season, including last weekend's playoff win over Toronto. The Knighthawks have also won 12 in a row at the Blue Cross Arena, dating back to March 18th of last season when Buffalo defeated them.

"Certainly this year we've been real good at home," said Comeau. "It's a great crowd here, it's pretty intimidating, it gets really loud, and we really feed off that energy."

The Bandits will have their work cut out for them on Friday night, tallying an all-time record of 5-13 at the Blue Cross Arena. Buffalo also lost twice to Rochester in Week 16 this season.

"Our moniker as a team is, if you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best," said Bandits Head Coach Darris Kilgour. "To be at this stage of the season, only the best teams are left. It's a great challenge to us and we look forward to it every year."

The Bandits advanced to the Eastern Divisional Final with a 14-8 victory over the Minnesota swarm last weekend. After falling behind 4-0 on just the first five shots faced in the game, goaltender Mike Thompson, along with the Bandits defense, shut the door and pulled off the come from behind 14-8 victory. Thompson didn't allow a single goal in the second half.

"He started off a little rough, but he really settled in," said Kilgour. "Our defense really started limiting the opportunities that they had, and when we do that, Mike is a really solid goalie. He's playing absolutely great right now and we're lucky to have him."

This week however, the Bandits defense will face the number one offense in the league as they head to Rochester. The Knighthawks ranked first in the league with 249 goals this season and averaged nearly 16 goals per game.

"The one thing with Rochester shooters is, they don't have a lot of tendencies," said Kilgour. "They shoot to different areas and they get a lot of shots."

The Knighthawks have also played especially well on the power play, converting on nearly 60% of their opportunities this season, an area of concern for Kilgour.

"We're going to be a very tough team to beat, but we're playing against Rochester, who has some tremendous firepower. I think its really going to come down to our defense," said Kilgour. "When you give a team like Rochester momentum, it's very hard to get it back. Staying out of the box and maintaining a level of composure is going to be important for us to have a huge game."
-NLL.COM

Divisonal Finals This Weekend

After an exciting weekend of Divisional Semifinal playoffs, the enduring teams now prepare for the Divisional Finals. In the Eastern Divisional Final, the Rochester Knighthawks will host the Buffalo Bandits on Friday night, April 27th at 8:05 pm eastern. In the Western Divisional Finals, the Arizona Sting will host the San Jose Stealth on Saturday night, April 28th at 10:30 pm eastern/7:30 pm pacific. The winners will advance to the 2007 NLL Championship Game on May 12th.

In the Eastern Division it was the higher seeds that pervailed while the lower seeds proved victorious in the Western Division, this past weekend in the Divisional Semifinal round of the 2007 Champion's Cup Playoffs.

On Friday in an Eastern Divisional Semifinal the Rochester Knighthawks fought past the Toronto Rock to a 10-6 victory.

On Saturday night, in a pair of Western Divisional Semifinal match-ups, both lower seeded clubs proved victorious. The San Jose Stealth outdueled the Colorado Mammoth to a 15-14 overtime victory in Denver while the Arizona Sting knocked off the Calgary Roughnecks with a 13-9 win in Calgary.

In the final Divisional Semifinal match-up, the Buffalo Bandits shut down the Minnesota Swarm in the second half of their Eastern Divisional Semifinal and recorded a 14-8 victory.

EAST DIVISIONAL SEMIFINALS
#4 Toronto Rock at #1 Rochester Knighthawks: 10-6 Rochester
#3 Minnesota Swarm at #2 Buffalo Bandits: 14-8 Buffalo

WEST DIVISIONAL SEMIFINALS
#4 San Jose Stealth at #1 Colorado Mammoth: 15-14 OT San Jose
#3 Arizona Sting at #2 Calgary Roughnecks: 13-9 Arizona

EASTERN DIVISIONAL FINALS
#2 Buffalo Bandits at #1 Rochester Knighthawks
Blue Cross Arena - Friday, April 27th, 8:05 pm eastern

WESTERN DIVISIONAL FINALS
#4 San Jose Stealth at #3 Arizona Sting
Jobing.com Arena - Saturday, April 28th, 10:30 pm eastern

NLL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
TBD - May 12th
-NLL.COM

Next Stop...Rochester!

The Buffalo Bandits battled back from a 4-0 deficit early in the first quarter to capture a 14-8 victory over the Minnesota Swarm on Sunday afternoon. After trailing at the half, Bandits goaltender Mike Thompson and the Buffalo defense held the Swarm scoreless in the second half while John Tavares and the offense scored seven goals to secure the victory. Buffalo advances to the Eastern Divisional Final on Friday and will travel to Rochester to take on the Knighthawks at 8:05 PM Eastern.

The Minnesota Swarm jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the first quarter as Chad Culp, Ryan Ward, Ryan Cousins and Dean Hill each scored to give Minnesota the early lead. However the Bandits answered with four goals of their own, including a pair by Kevin Dostie, to tie the contest heading into the first break.

The Swarm scored a pair of goals to open second quarter but Buffalo answered with three to take their first lead of the game at 12:29 in the second frame. However Ryan Cousins and Ryan Sharp responded for Minnesota as the Swarm regained the lead heading into halftime, 8-7.

In the second half it was all Buffalo as goaltender Mike Thompson and the Bandits defense held Minnesota without a goal. On offense the Bandits scored seven times in the half, including three by veteran John Tavares.

Tavares and Kevin Dostie each scored five points on three goals and two assists to lead the Bandits offense. Thompson recorded 38 saves and allowed only seven goals to record his first career playoff victory.

The Swarm were led offensively by team captain Ryan Cousins who scored two goals. In net, Nick Patterson recorded 41 saves and allowed 14 goals in the loss.

Buffalo will travel to Rochester on Friday for the Eastern Divisional Final at 8:05 PM Eastern.
-NLL.COM

The Matchup

Divisional Semifinal round of the 2007 NLL Champion's Cup Playoffs finishes up on Sunday at 2pm eastern at HSBC Arena in Buffalo as the Eastern Division number two seed Buffalo Bandits (10-6) host the number three seed Minnesota Swarm (9-7). Buffalo defeated Minnesota twice this season, but starting goaltender Steve Dietrich is not expected to start after being injured last week. Sunday's winner will advance to the Eastern Divisional Final next week.

After a let down in the NLL Championship Game last season, the Buffalo Bandits are on a mission this year to win their first championship since 1996. The Bandits were the number one overall seed in the playoffs in 2006, but fell 16-9 in front of their home crowd in the championship game to Colorado. It was the second time in three years they lost in the Championship Game.

This season Buffalo battled to a 10-6 record, including an eight game win streak from February 11th through April 7th, and grabbed the number three (overall) seed in the playoffs, despite missing starting goaltender Steve Dietrich through a significant part of the season.

Dietrich, last year's League MVP, only played in ten games this season while recovering from off-season knee surgery. The veteran will be out again on Sunday after being carted off the turf last weekend, with what has been described as a mild tear in his MCL.

"We hope he'll be back next week, but he is definitely out this weekend and he probably won't even be dressed," said Bandits Head Coach Darris Kilgour.

Buffalo will turn to back-up Mike Thompson to fill the void. Thompson, who played in nine games this season, actually logged more minutes than Dietrich this season and has recorded a 5-4 record. Thompson was also awarded the win in both of Buffalo's victories over Minnesota this season.

"Mikey got a lot of playing time early in the season with 'Chugger' (Dietrich) being injured. He's played a lot and he's played against the best. We have all the confidence in the world in him," said Kilgour.

However, the goaltending position isn't the only place Buffalo has been stricken with injury lately.

NLL All-Time points leader John Tavares missed a game last week, ending a 133 consecutive games played streak, but is expected to play in the playoffs.

"He had a sprained ankle about four weeks ago," said Kilgour. "With the back to back (last week versus Rochester) we didn't want to take any chances. He's 100% and ready to go."

Transition player Pat McCready also missed a game last weekend, but Kilgour said McCready will be in action this weekend.

The Minnesota Swarm captured their second consecutive playoff berth this season on the strength of a 9-7 record. The Swarm got the better of both Philadelphia and Toronto down the stretch of the regular season to secure a third seed in the Eastern Division. The team accomplished their first goal of bettering their 8-8 record from a year ago, thanks to two big wins last weekend over Philadelphia and Arizona.

"The playoffs started a while ago for us," said Head Coach Duane Jacobs, who served as an assistant coach with Buffalo last season. "I think the only people who expected us to be here, was us. We're ready to go up to Buffalo."

Minnesota was led by Dean Hill on offense this season with 32 goals, while Sean Pollock, Ryan Ward and Kasey Biernes each contributed over 20 goals a piece. The Swarm have no one 'go-to-guy' on offense, but pride themselves on an offense-by-committee style of attack.

"Our guys do a pretty good job of not worrying about who is going to take the shot," said Jacobs. "This team is a really unselfish group, which is a strong point of our group."

Despite having 7-1 record all-time versus the Swarm, including a win in last season's Eastern Divisional Semifinal match-up, the Bandits are concerned with Minnesota's diversified offense.

"We haven't done a good job defending them," said Kilgour. "This is a team going into the playoffs, that we were concerned about facing. They have so many different guys who can step up."

Minnesota has lost a couple players during the course of the season due to injuries and trades, but hope one of their key additions this season will be back this weekend. Mike Hominuck, who was acquired early in the season in a trade with Portland, scored 12 goals in six games for Minnesota before being injured. Hominuck has missed Minnesota's last five games.

"Mike is day to day," said Jacobs. "We're hoping he's going to be ready, but if he's not, we're ready to go in any event."

#3 Minnesota Swarm (9-7) at #2 Buffalo Bandits

For Lacrosse Insight Outside Of The Bandits Check Out This Site, A Big Supporter Of Ours Throughout This Season, See Links Below

Dietrich Update

Buffalo Bandits goaltender Steve Dietrich, the league's MVP last season, was hurt on Friday against the Rochester Knighthawks and missed the second game of the home and home series on Saturday. Dietrich went for an MRI on Saturday.

Dietrich was carried from the HSBC Arena turf on a stretcher after collapsing when his knee buckled after a shot by Mike Accursi, reports Tom Borrelli of the Buffalo News.

"It's nothing real, real serious and I'm probably looking at a couple of weeks," Dietrich told Borrelli. "So [I'll] be questionable for next Sunday [the 2 p.m. home playoff game against Minnesota]. It's still pretty swollen but it's a lot better than we originally thought."

The veteran goaltender has previously had surgery on both of his knees.

"I was told [Dietrich] might be ready for the second playoff game, but I don't have much faith in that," Bandits coach Darris Kilgour told Borrelli. "I'm planning to use Mikey (Thompson) as far as we go right now. That's not a bad option."

NLL career scoring leader John Tavares, who has a slight ankle sprain, was a scratch for the Bandits on Saturday, ending his streak of 133 consecutive games played, noted Borrelli.

The Knighthawks completed a perfect 8-0 home record and a weekend sweep of the Bandits with the win on Saturday, and also wrapped up home field advantage throughout the playoffs with a league best 14-2 record.

"The real season starts now," John Grant told Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. "I mean 14-2 means nothing if you get bounced in the first round. We've been first in the league before (2003, when they lost the championship game at home to Toronto), but this year this team is focused enough and dedicated enough to get the ultimate goal, which is the Champion's Cup and that starts next week."

Knighthawks head coach Ed Comeau echoed those sentiments in Maiorana's column. "We already talked to the guys and we told them the season's over, now the second season starts and everyone is 0-0," said Comeau.

Rochester completed just its second perfect regular-season home record (8-0) and is the first team to do so since Buffalo went 8-0 at home in 2003.

The Toronto Rock narrowly squeaked their way into the playoffs despite losing their last three games. With Philadelphia losing to both Minnesota and Chicago this weekend, the Rock were gift wrapped a playoff berth. After losing to New York on Saturday, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Star notes that the Rock players took no solace in the thought of slipping into the post-season.

"To get somebody else to back door us in is not really very gratifying," Rock coach Glenn Clark told the Toronto Star. "Right now that's not a real consolation prize."

Goalie Bob Watson agreed: "I don't think we deserve it. We had multiple opportunities to get this thing and it didn't happen for us."

After the game Rock captain Jim Veltman was laying on his back getting stitches in his left shin when he found out that they had backed into the playoffs, notes Neil Stevens of the Canadian Press.

"There's been years when we won the division and other teams squeaked in when maybe they didn't deserve it," the 41-year-old captain told the Canadian Press. "Maybe this is our turn to do that."

The Calgary Roughnecks recorded two wins this weekend, over Arizona and Edmonton and with a little help secured a home playoff game.

"It's huge for the team and it means a lot to our fans," Roughnecks coach Jeff Dowling told the Canadian Press. "We came in today and got off our bus and we had about 60 fans above us cheering us as we got off. Everybody had goose-bumps. It meant a lot of the guys to have them come down and cheer us like that. It really pumped us up and made us want to win in front of them."

The Rush, who went 1-15 last season finished this season 6-10, but they were in playoff contention before losing to Portland on Friday.

"It's almost like golf, I feel like we left three putts out there, the Calgary game early in the season, the New York game and the game before this in Portland" said Edmonton head coach Paul Day in the Canadian Press. "Those were games we needed to finish. That point of it is very disappointing. I truly think we should have been three games better this year. Maybe with another year we'll be able to finish those. I guess you can say we are pleased with the progress but not satisfied."

Both of the league's 2007 expansion teams closed their inaugural season's with victories in their final outings as New York beat Toronto 12-11 and Chicago beat Philadelphia 17-11.

Titans rookie forward Matt Zash had the best game of his career so far, scoring four goals and adding two assists for six points as the Titans defeated the Rock on Saturday. Before Saturday's game Zash had tallied five goals and eight assists for 13 points in nine combined games.

The Philadelphia Wings controlled their own playoff destiny heading into the final week, but a pair of losses to Minnesota and Chicago knocked them out of the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.

"Of course we're all incredibly disappointed," said Wings' general manager and head coach Lindsay Sanderson. "We've had a couple of lucky breaks around the league that kept us in the playoff race, but we weren't able to take care of our own destiny," Sanderson told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

With the conclusion of the regular season we may have seen a couple veterans playing for the last time. The Edmonton Sun is reporting that veteran Rush forward Jamey Bowen will retire and the Oregonian is reporting that LumberJax forward Del Halladay will also be hanging it up.

The Colorado Mammoth and San Jose Stealth split a weekend series with the Mammoth winning 13-12 at Pepsi Center on Thursday and San Jose winning 11-10 on Friday. The two clubs will meet for the third consecutive time this weekend as the Mammoth host the Stealth in an opening round playoff game. Heading into the post season the Mammoth have lost three of their last five games after rocketing out to a 10-1 start. The Stealth on the other hand, have gone 8-2 over their last ten games after starting the season 1-5.

The Portland LumberJax closed their season on a positive note with a 14-10 victory over Edmonton on Friday. Rookie Matt Holman scored three goals in the contest.

NLL Playoffs

After an exciting finale to the regular season, the matchups for next weekend's Divisional Semifinal games are set. Colorado will host San Jose (Saturday, 4/21) and Calgary will host Arizona (Saturday, 4/21) in the West, while Rochester will host Toronto (Friday, 4/20) and Buffalo will host Minnesota (Sunday, 4/22) in the East.

Despite a three-game losing streak to finish the season, the Rock clinched the final remaining playoff spot as a result of two Philadelphia losses this weekend. Toronto, Philadelphia and Chicago each finished the season with identical 6-10 records, and each split the season series, 1-1, with both their East rivals. As a result, Toronto wins the tiebreaker based off of Divisional record. The Rock finished with a 5-7 record against East opponents, while Chicago finished 5-8 and Philadelphia finished 4-8.

The Rock will meet the top seeded Rochester Knighthawks at Blue Cross Arena on Friday evening at 8:05 PM EST. The Knighthawks are currently on a 12-game winning streak.

Buffalo will host the Minnesota Swarm on Sunday at HSBC Arena. The Swarm defeated Philadelphia and Arizona this weekend to wrap up the #3 seed in the East. Faceoff is slated for 2:00 PM EST.

In the West, Calgary beat Arizona and Edmonton in consecutive nights to go from being on the playoff-bubble to the #2 seed. Calgary, Arizona and San Jose all finish with 9-7 records, but the Roughnecks victory over Arizona on Friday swayed the tiebreakers their way. Calgary will host Arizona next Saturday at Pengrowth Saddledome. Faceoff is set for 7:30 PM MST.

Colorado clinched the West Division title with a split against San Jose this weekend. The Mammoth will meet the Stealth for a third consecutive game. The two teams will battle on Saturday evening at Pepsi Center. Faceoff is at 7:00 PM MST.

The following are the first round match-ups and overall seedings for the 2007 Champion's Cup Playoffs.



EAST DIVISION

#4 Toronto Rock (6-10) at #1 Rochester Knighthawks (14-2)
Blue Cross Arena - Friday, April 20th, 8:05 PM EST

#3 Minnesota Swarm (9-7) at #2 Buffalo Bandits (10-6)
HSBC Arena - Sunday, April 22nd, 2:00 PM EST


WEST DIVISION

#4 San Jose Stealth (9-7) at #1 Colorado Mammoth (12-4)
Pepsi Center - Saturday, April 21st, 7:00 PM MST

#3 Arizona Sting (9-7) at #2 Calgary Roughnecks (9-7)
Pengrowth Saddledome - Saturday, April 21st, 7:30 PM MST


OVERALL SEEDINGS

1 Rochester Knighthawks (14-2)
2 Colorado Mammoth (12-4)
3 Buffalo Bandits (10-6)
4 Calgary Roughnecks (9-7)
5 Minnesota Swarm (9-7)
6 Arizona Sting (9-7)
7 San Jose Stealth (9-7)
8 Toronto Rock (6-10)

The Bandits Are Letting Me Down

The Rochester Knighthawks defeated the Buffalo Bandits, 14-8 at Blue Cross Arena on Saturday evening in front of 11,200 fans, completing the weekend sweep. The Knighthawks finished the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record at home. With the win the Knighthawks also extended their winning streak to 12 games. John Grant also captured the league's scoring title, with a league-high 51 goals and 111 points in only 15 games.

The Knighthawks pulled out to a 3-1 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Bandits scored first in the second quarter but Rochester answered with six consecutive goals and took a 9-3 lead into halftime.

Rochester extended their lead in the third quarter to 12-4 before holding off the Bandits in the final frame to capture their eighth home win of the season. Rochester finishes with a perfect 8-0 record at The Blue Cross Arena this season.

John Grant scored one goal and added four assists for five points to lead Rochester. With his five points Grant brings his season total to 111 points. With 111 points Grant captures the 2007 points title.

Crazy Fans

Bucktooth/Vyse Highlights

Chugger Injured

Steve Dietrich tried to block Mike Accursi's shot 4:55 into the game last night when his knee buckled under him and he had to be carted off the field after several minutes on the ground. Although this is such a detramental injury to the Bandits, the prognostications look good so far and he should return for the playoffs. The injures racked up might of causes the loss due to Chris White serving a game suspention and Pat McCready due to back spasms, all expected to return.

Knighthawks Hold Off Bandits =<

The Rochester Knighthawks defeated the Buffalo Bandits by a score of 14-10 at HSBC Arena Friday night in Buffalo and captured the Eastern Division title. John Grant led the Knighthawks offensively with nine points on five goals and four assists. Mike Accursi also contributed seven points for Rochester on the strength of six assists. Pat O'Toole earned the win in net with 35 saves.

The two teams were tied at five goals apiece after the first quarter of play. Rochester held Buffalo scoreless in the second quarter, scoring four goals of their own to build a 9-5 lead at the half. The Bandits would make a push in the second half, scoring five goals. However, the Knighthawks also scored five goals in the second half to capture the victory.

John Tavares was Buffalo's high scorer on the night, putting up six points with one goal and five assists. Kevin Dotsie and Dan Teat also added four points apiece for the Bandits. Goalie Mike Thompson made 45 saves in the loss.

Rochester (13-2) and Buffalo (10-6) will meet again tomorrow at Rochester's Blue Cross Arena to complete the weekend home-and-home series. It will be the final regular season game for both this year. Game time is 7:35pm ET.

BUFFALO (10-5):
Has clinched a playoff berth and a home playoff game. The Bandits will host the Minnesota Swarm in an East Division Semi-Final at HSBC Arena on Sunday, April 22nd, at 2:00 PM EST.

Bandits Game Nationally Televised

The game between the Buffalo Bandits and the Rochester Knighthawks will air on Sunday April 15th at 11am Pacific, 2pm Eastern and will be nationally televised on the Versus Network, formally OLN. The game can be seen in Western New York on Time Warner Cable Channel 71 at 2:00.

Buffalo What?

For the first time in National Lacrosse League history two teams with winning streaks of at least eight games will play when the Rochester Knighthawks (10 games) and Buffalo Bandits (8 games) face off at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, tonight at 7:30 Eastern. The contest is the first game of a weekend home and home series that will decide who will capture the 2007 Eastern Division regular season championship.

The Knighthawks (12-2) come into the game riding a ten game winning streak and need just one win to secure first in the East. With a sweep of the weekend series Rochester would guarantee a first overall finish in the league and capture home turf advantage. Rochester has not lost at home this season, going 7-0, and holds an all-time home playoff game record of 4-2, compared to a 5-9 record on the road in the playoffs.

The Bandits (10-4) are on an eight game winning streak of their own and can take first in the East Division with a sweep of the series. It's been over two months since Buffalo last lost. After starting the season 2-4, the Bandits have rattled off eight straight victories to put themselves into position to battle Rochester for the division.

This series could also decide league scoring races as some of the top offensive producers take to the turf. John Tavares (Buffalo) and John Grant Jr. (Rochester) are entering the weekend tied atop the leader board with 97 points each.

Grant is also tied with Calgary's Lewis Ratcliff for the league lead in goals with 45, four ahead of Tavares. Rochester's Scott Evans is also in the middle of the goals race with 43 and Tavares leads the assists race 56 this season.

John Tavares is also just seven goals away from breaking Gary Gait's record of 596 career goals. Tavares enters the weekend with 590 career regular season goals, including 41 this season.

Tavares however downplays the scoring race and records.

"The scoring race does not mean anything, this team has won eight in a row let's talk about that," said Tavares when asked about going head-to-head with Grant this weekend.

Tavares and the Buffalo offense will again look for help from the transition game, led by Mark Steenhuis. Steenhuis is second on the team with 25 goals this season.

The Buffalo defense is anchored by last week's defensive and overall player of the week, Steve Dietrich. Dietrich and the Bandits are coming off a strong defensive performance in which they held the Arizona Sting to five points.

"It seems like forever since I last played like that," said Dietrich. "This weekend is a big show down and we would love to have Rochester come here in the playoffs."

The Knighthawks offense leads the league in every offensive category. The team averages almost 16 goals per game, has the top ranked power play which has scored on 61.8% of its' chances, and has a league leading 22 short handed goals. Rochester has three of the top seven offensive producers. Joining Grant on the offense is Scott Evans with 83 points and Shawn Williams with 81 points. Mike Accursi, who has scored 68 points, good for fourth on Rochester, would be leading five other teams in scoring.

Pat O'Toole will be in net for the Knighthawks. O'Toole leads the NLL with 12 wins this season and ranks sixth in the league with a 77.4% saves percentage.

"Back-to-back with Buffalo, you knew it was going to be a big weekend," O'Toole told Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. "At least we have the advantage with the better record and they have to beat us twice to win it. But it comes down to these two games and whatever we did all year means nothing now because if they beat us twice, they get home field. The good thing is all we have to do is win one."

Tonight's match-up will be the 29th meeting between the Bandits and the Knighthawks. Rochester holds the series lead 17 games to 11. The Bandits do hold a slight lead at home having won 7 of the 13 games played in Buffalo.

The Bandits however have won the last three meetings between the two teams, including a 15-10 playoff victory last season at HSBC Arena.

Game two will be played at the Blue Cross Arena Saturday night at 7:35 Eastern.

Rochester Knighthawks at Buffalo Bandits
HSBC Arena--7:30 Eastern

Bandits To Host First Round

The Buffalo Bandits announced today they will host a first round Champions Cup playoff game at HSBC Arena downtown on Sunday, April 22 at 2:00. Opponents have been slimed down to Minnesota, Toronto, or Philidelphia. Johnny can break the record with 8 goals 2 games to go.
Johnny Who?
-Bandits Blogger

Chugger Wins Week 15

The National Lacrosse League has announced the Week Number 15 player awards for the 2007 season. Buffalo Bandits goaltender Steve Dietrich was named both the Overall Player of the Week and the Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in a 15-5 victory over the Arizona Sting. Rochester Knighthawks forward John Grant earned Offensive Player of the Week honors, Buffalo's Mark Steenhuis was named Transition Player of the Week and Philadelphia Wings forward Athan Iannucci was named Rookie of the Week.

Buffalo Bandits goaltender Steve Dietrich earned both Overall Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance in a 15-5 victory over the Arizona Sting at HSBC Arena on Saturday. Dietrich allowed only five goals, recorded 43 saves, tallied an assist and collected two loose balls in the win.

Rochester Knighthawks forward John Grant was named the Offensive Player of the Week. Grant scored four goals and piled on five assists for nine points, including one power play goal and one short handed goal, as the Knighthawks defeated the Minnesota Swarm 19-9 on Saturday at The Blue Cross Arena. Grant also collected three loose balls in the win.

Mark Steenhuis of the Buffalo Bandits was named the Transition Player of the Week after helping Buffalo to a 15-5 win over the Arizona Sting on Saturday at HSBC Arena. Steenhuis scored three goals and collected seven loose balls in the victory.

Philadelphia Wings forward Athan Iannucci was named the Rookie of the Week after tallying ten points in Philadelphia's 20-8 win over the New York Titans on Saturday at Wachovia Center. Iannucci scored six goals and added four assists, scored two of his goals on the power play and collected ten loose balls in the victory.
Week Number Fifteen Results
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Bandits Crush Sting 15-5

The Buffalo Bandits captured their eighth straight win, crushing the Arizona Sting 15-5 on Saturday night at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, in front of 13,492 fans. With the win Buffalo secures a home playoff game. Roger Vyse and Mark Steenhuis each scored three goals to lead the Bandits while Steve Dietrich recorded 43 saves and allowed only five goals.

Bandits rookie Brett Bucktooth opened the scoring just over four and half minutes into the opening frame and Arizona's Dan Dawson answered nearly 30 seconds later. Then Buffalo six consecutive goals. The Bandits lead 8-2 at the half.

In the second half Buffalo piled it on, outscoring Arizona 7-3 to secure their eighth straight win.
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Tavares Named Player Of Month

John Tavares scored 31 points on 15 goals and 16 assists in March, helping the Bandits to a 4-0 record during the month.

Buffalo Bandits veteran forward John Tavares was named Overall Player of the Month and Toronto Rock forward Ryan Benesch earned Rookie of the Month honors for the month of March, the National Lacrosse League announced today.

Buffalo Bandits veteran forward John Tavares led the Bandits to a 4-0 record during the month, including wins over Minnesota, New York, Colorado and Chicago. Tavares scored 15 goals and added 16 assists for 31 points, collected 19 loose balls and scored two goals on the power-play. Tavares won both the Overall Player of the Week and Offensive Player of the Week honors twice in March, capturing both awards in Week #10 and in Week #13.

Toronto Rock forward Ryan Benesch helped the Rock to a 2-2 record in March. The first overall draft pick scored 14 goals and added nine assists for 23 points, scored three power play goals and collected 13 loose balls. Toronto posted wins over Minnesota and Philadelphia during the month. Benesch was named Rookie of the Week twice during March, winning the award in Week #12 and in Week #13.

The Monthly Player Awards are determined by a vote of the General Managers and Head Coaches of the league's thirteen member clubs.

Sting Vs Bandits

Arizona Sting vs Buffalo Bandits (Saturday April 7th)

The Buffalo Bandits entered the weekend needing only to beat Chicago on Saturday to secure their fifth straight trip to the playoffs. Cory Bomberry delivered, scoring four goals to lead Buffalo to a 15-10 victory.

"It's nice, especially with our division being so tight after the first eight games or so, to get the playoff spot wrapped up," John Tavares told Tom Borrelli of the Buffalo News. "That's great but we can't let up because we've still got a shot at first."

The Bandits are currently second in the East Division, two games behind Rochester (11-2) and will close the regular season with a back-to-back weekend against the Knighthawks in Week 16.

"This is a big accomplishment but we're not done yet," Cory Bomberry told Borrelli. "It's the first step of many that's going to happen for us during the playoffs."

Buffalo's Phil Sanderson is also finding his groove with his new club. "The guys that I played with in Toronto were like brothers and my cousin was one of them," Sanderson told the Buffalo News. "It's the first time I've been away from him in this league and that was pretty tough. But it's a new chapter."

Champions Cup, Here We Come!

The Buffalo Bandits defeated the Chicago Shamrox, 15-10, in front of 16,228 fans at HSBC Arena on Saturday evening. The Bandits scored the first three goals of the game and never trailed, taking a 10-3 lead at halftime before cruised to victory. Cory Bomberry led the Bandits with four goals, while Mike Thompson earned the win in goal with 28 saves.

Chicago cut the score to 11-8 with an impressive third quarter, but was never able to cut the deficit closer.

Brett Bucktooth scored three goals, while Mark Steenhuis, John Tavares and Roger Vyse each scored two.

Chris Panos, Bill McGlone and Josh Wasson led Chicago, with each scoring two goals. Brandon Miller (19 saves, 10 goals against) and Derek Collins (12 saves, 5 goals against) split time in goal.

Buffalo (9-4) hosts the Arizona Sting next Saturday at HSBC Arena. Chicago (4-9) hosts the Edmonton Rush on Sunday at Sears Centre.