Mark Steenhuis

Bandits into postseason on heels of Steenhuis’ big week

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

The Buffalo Bandits will be playing the post season thanks to another victory on national television.

Buffalo’s 14-9 victory over Rochester was powered by a tremendous effort by Anthony Cosmo in goal and the NLL’s newest Player of the Week, Mark Steenhuis.

Photo courtesty: Buffalo Bandits

Steenhuis led all players with eight points (4+4) as he helped clinch a playoff spot for the Bandits. The former Transition Player of the Year (2008) has improved his offensive output in recent weeks and has put him on pace for a strong showing offensively this season. This is of particular importance considering the regression he had over the past two years.

The Bandits still have a chance to improve their standing in the NLL’s East Division as the playoffs draw near, but they will be playing on the road in the first round no matter what. Saturday’s game in Washington will be nothing more than a warmup for next week’s first round playoff game.

In addition to Steenhuis’ big effort, the Bandits defense locked down and stifled the usually high-octant Knighthawks offense last Saturday. Anthony Cosmo was superb in goal and enjoyed an evening of long, outside shots and only a handful of high-quality chances. He was capable of turning aside most of the Knighthawks’ best chances.

Cosmo was part of a larger defensive effort that saw the Bandits hold the Rochester to only two goals in the first half and many long scoreless stretches. That includes a drought of 16 minutes without a goal. From 11:54 of the second quarter until 12:45 of the third quarter and 11:26 of the third to 8:46 of the fourth quarter were the two longest droughts for Rochester. Buffalo made the Knighthawks pay, piecing together a number of lengthy runs, something they have struggled with this season.

The only missing puzzle piece on Saturday was John Tavares. For the first time in pretty much forever, Tavares did not factor in the goal scoring for the Bandits and only registered two assists. A good natured Darris Kilgour brushed off his stats, saying that he simply needs to shoot more. Continue reading →

Bandits postgame: Fourth quarter meltdown dooms result

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

What should have stood out as the stat of the night ended up being nothing more than an afterthought for the Buffalo Bandits. A stingy third quarter effort was wasted as the Bandits gave up six fourth quarter goals in a 13-10 loss to Philadelphia.

After a see-saw first half, the Bandits defense clamped down in the third quarter. Buffalo shut out the Wings for the duration of the third and scored two of their own to take a 9-7 lead into the fourth. The Bandits actually held Philadelphia scoreless for 26:04 between the second and fourth quarters.

We didn’t play our best game, that’s disappointing. We had our chances, we could have gone up by three or four goals and it might have been a different game.  ~ Darris Kilgour

The fourth quarter was a different story. Pat Heim scored 2:59 seconds into the stanza and Drew Westervelt added the game-tying goal just 18 seconds later. Westervelt finished with seven points (3+4). Buffalo did not recover from the turnaround, getting outscored 6-1 in the final quarter. Continue reading →