'Banditland, Man!' Buffalo Back on Top of NLL After Game 3 Win

The Buffalo Bandits can take an enormous sigh of relief, exhaling with one thunderous “finally.”

You could see it in their faces as they marched around the floor with hardware in hand. In the team’s third straight National Lacrosse League Finals appearance, the franchise is at last champion for the first time since 2008.

Buffalo routed Colorado in an act of revenge in Saturday’s deciding Game 3, never trailing in a 13-4 drubbing in front of over 18,000 in KeyBank Center. The title marks the Bandits’ fifth in franchise history. Despite the team’s storied past, this was new territory for most of the roster, which had fallen just short of a championship.

“Oh my gosh, these emotions are overwhelming,” said Bandits captain Steve Priolo just prior to lifting the NLL Cup for the first time. “This crowd, this place, Banditland, man. Yes!”

Matt Vinc added to his already stupendous resume, stonewalling the Mammoth offense en route to setting a new NLL Finals record for fewest goals allowed. He made 46 saves, never giving an inch to a Colorado unit that looked lethal in Game 2.

On the other side of the ball, Josh Byrne reminded everyone what Buffalo was missing the first two games of the series. After being forced out with an injury, he showed no signs of rust with a seven-point performance. He was crucial in a third quarter that tilted the odds toward the Bandits, scoring three times in a 4-1 Buffalo run.

Dhane Smith earned his first NLL Finals MVP Award, notching two goals and seven assists in Game 3 to push his point total in the series to 23.

Buffalo had lost its previous three NLL Finals appearances dating back to 2016. That includes the last two NLL Finals that were played, having fallen in 2019 to Calgary and 2022 to Colorado. The first two games in this year’s Finals mirrored 2022 — a Bandits win in Game 1 followed by a Colorado triumph — but Buffalo made sure history did not repeat in the decisive battle.

“We just had to keep making adjustments throughout the year,” Priolo said. “We got that 2019 one and then those two years of COVID, we thought those two years were taken from us when we had a good team. We got back there last year and then added a couple pieces and that mentality piece to get us over the hump.”

It was a tense start Saturday, with both defenses standing tall out the gate. Buffalo and Colorado entered the final minute of the first quarter tied at 1 before Byrne was gifted a major break. A desperation shot from outside with less than a second left deflected off a Colorado defender and past Dillon Ward to give Buffalo a lead it would never relinquish.

Chase Fraser followed up Byrne’s go-ahead tally with two straight highlight-reel goals, helping Buffalo to a 4-2 advantage at the break. That was extended thanks to Byrne’s third quarter hat trick, part of a 5-1 Bandits run stretching into the fourth.

Chris Wardle cut the Buffalo lead to 9-4 four minutes into the fourth quarter, but the Bandits responded with four straight to end the night. The party was on far before the final buzzer sounded.

For players like Priolo, in his fifth year as captain, and the core of Smith, Byrne, Ian MacKay and Chris Cloutier, that elusive title finally arrived.

It was just as sweet for those who have been there before, like Bandits head coach John Tavares, who was part of the previous four Buffalo titles as a player.

Now a four-time champion, Vinc wondered if he’d ever experience this again. And at 40 years old, his future in cage is certainly in doubt. If this is how he goes out, what a curtain call it was. No team had been held under six goals before in the league’s championship history.

“The monkey is off our back right now,” Vinc said. “I’m so proud of our group.”