Bandits claim third straight league title
On Saturday, the Rush found themselves trailing the host Buffalo Bandits 7-6 at halftime in a series deciding Game 3 of the NLL Championship Series at the KeyBank Center, which is known as Banditland during lacrosse games. At that point, the wheels fell off for the Rush.
Just 34 seconds into the second half, Bandits forward Chase Fraser scored on a one handed behind the back shot to start a stunning chain of events. The Bandits took off and outscored the Rush 8-0 in the second half for a 15-6 victory playing before a euphoric sellout crowd of 19,070 spectators.
The win allowed the Bandits to claim the best-of-three series 2-1. The Bandits, who were playing in their fifth straight NLL final, also captured the NLL title for a third straight year and the seventh time in team history. Buffalo’s seven league titles are the most in the history of the NLL.
The second half of Game 3 was a stunning reversal from what had happened in the entire series to that point. Back on May 13, the Bandits took Game 1 of the series 12-10 at the KeyBank Center in a hard-fought battle.
Last Sunday, the Rush claimed an 11-10 victory in Game 2 at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon in another slug-it-out affair. The first half of Game 3 had a five-goal run by the Bandits, a three-goal run by the Rush and was tightly contested.
Once the Bandits got the first goal of the second half on Fraser’s fancy play, they were off to the races. The Rush looked like they got run over by an 18-wheeler. Anything the Saskatchewan side tried to do made the Bandits momentum snowball that much more.
When the dust settled, two of the Bandits biggest stars finished with monster games. Forward Josh Byrne had nine points coming off four goals and five assists. Dhane Smith, who is an all-time great in the NLL, had eight points coming off three goals and five assists.
Transition player Ian MacKay had a goal and two assists and was named the MVP of the NLL Championship Series.
Chris Cloutier had a hat trick For the Bandits, while Kyle Buchanan had two goals in the contest. Defender Cam Wyers tallied the Bandits final goal of the game.
Bandits star goaltender Matt Vinc made 42 saves to pick the win. Another NLL all-time great, Vinc, who broke into the NLL in 2006, has been a member of six NLL title winners. Before being part of the Bandits three straight title winners, Vinc backstopped the original Rochester Knighthawks to three straight NLL championships from 2012 to 2014.
The Rush were up 3-2 when Cloutier scored his first of the contest with 3:36 remaining in the first quarter to force a 3-3 tie heading into the quarter break. Cloutier’s tally started the Bandits on a five-goal run, which saw them score four times in the first 4:14 of the second quarter to take a 7-3 advantage.
After the Bandits scored their seventh goal, the Rush pulled star veteran goaltender Frank Scigliano for rookie Thomas Kiazyk. Kiazyk played just eight seconds as Scigliano mentally reset and returned to the contest.
The Rush proceeded to go on a three-goal run to cut the Bandits lead to 7-6 going into halftime.
Shanks had a pair of goals for the Rush, while veteran star forward Robert Church was in on every Rush tally recording a pair of goals and four assists. Zach Manns and captain Ryan Keenan picked up singles for Saskatchewan.
Scigliano turned away 38-of-52 shots to take the loss in goal for the Rush. Kiazyk didn’t face any shots in his brief appearance.
In the second half, the Rush offence completely dried up as the Bandits went on their romp. The entirety of the NLL Championship Series between the two clubs was expected to be tightly contested.
The Rush and Bandits both finished the regular season posting 13-5 records. In the one head-to-head encounter between the two sides, the Bandits claimed a 9-7 victory on March 1 at the SaskTel Centre. That allowed the Bandits to finish first overall in the NLL, while the Rush were second overall.
The Rush were making their first appearance in the NLL Championship Series since their last league title win back in 2018. Only Church, Keenan, Mike Messenger and Matt Hossack remain from that 2018 title winner.
Saskatchewan missed the playoffs with respective 8-10 records in 2022, 2023 and 2024 going through a reload process. That reload allowed them to take off in 2025.
Following Saturday’s Game 3 of the NLL final, the Bandits proved they are still the masters on the circuit. The next handful of seasons will show if the Rush learned lessons from the series loss against the Bandits and once again rise to the pinnacle of the NLL.
If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
-------
If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.
