BUFFALO, N.Y. — For the third consecutive year and fourth consecutive National Lacrosse League finals, the Buffalo Bandits will be playing for a championship.
The NLL's reigning champions punched their return ticket to the finals Sunday at an electric KeyBank Center, rallying from four goals down in the fourth quarter to defeat the Toronto Rock 10-8.
With the win, Buffalo sweeps Toronto in the playoffs for a third consecutive season after the Bandits won Game 1 of the semifinals 12-4 on the road.
The Bandits have played in each of the last three NLL Finals (2019, 2022, 2023), winning last season against Colorado for the team's first championship since 2008.
Now Buffalo returns to the championship round to face the Albany Firewolves in an all-New York affair.
For much of Sunday evening, it seemed the Bandits would have to go to a Game 3 in Hamilton to decide the semifinals.
After taking a 3-2 lead in the first period, the Bandits were outscored 4-0 in the second quarter as the Rock took a 6-3 lead into halftime. The third quarter saw each team score once, and then in the fourth, Toronto scored first to go up 8-4 with 13:28 left in the game.
At that point, the Bandits flipped the switch. Chase Fraser post-game relayed a conversation he had with Josh Byrne.
"We looked at each other and we just go, alright, let's go do it. It's our time. Let's go play the way we need to play. Let's go end their season, and that's what we did."
Buffalo did on the back of an immediate response. The Bandits scored six goals in the following eight minutes, with Byrne playing a hand in each goal. Byrne finished with a team-high 7 points while Fraser led Buffalo with 3 goals.
Matt Vinc made 52 saves on the night, and shut the door in the fourth quarter, holding the Rock scoreless as the Bandits made their comeback.
Now, Buffalo is just two wins away from two titles in as many seasons. It's finals matchup with Albany starts May 17th on the road, with Game 2 in Buffalo the following day on May 18th. The if-necessary Game 3 would take place May 24th in Albany.
"It's hard to win all the time, and when you don't win, there's always a problem," said Bandits head coach John Tavares. "We're fortunate to make the finals four times in a row. We're not satisfied with that. We're still hungry. We want to win the championship. That's our goal, I'm sure that's every team's goal. That was our goal at the beginning of the year and we're one step closer to it."
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