Dynasty in Buffalo: Bandits run it back for 6th championship

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Back where they began, the Bandits are once again back-to-back champions.

Amplified by a capacity crowd Saturday night at KeyBank Center, the Bandits beat the Albany FireWolves 15-13 to sweep the National Lacrosse League Finals and claim their sixth professional indoor lacrosse title. Buffalo’s championship tally matches the Toronto Rock and Philadelphia Wings for the most in league history.

Culminating an unbeaten playoff run, the Bandits repeated as NLL Cup champions for the first time since 1992-93, the earliest years of the franchise. Buffalo also won the North American Cup as champions of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League in 1996, and the NLL Champions Cup in 2008.

Led by a pair of MVP forwards in Josh Byrne and Dhane Smith, backstopped by the league’s greatest goaltender Matt Vinc, coached by all-timer John Tavares, and supported by a fanbase larger and louder than anything the league has seen before, Buffalo affirmed its dynasty with consecutive championship triumphs. Appearing in a fourth consecutive NLL finals series, and 13th in 32 years, Banditland basks in its orange and black glory for another year.

“All season you were the hunted,” NLL commissioner Brett Frood said during the trophy presentation. “Everyone wanted what you had. It’s been a season of resiliency and toughness. And you took it right back.”

Celebrating a championship on home turf for the second year in a row, the Bandits were sprinkled with orange and purple confetti while passing around their shiny new trophy, acknowledging the fans — nearly all of the 19,070 lingered in the stands long after the final horn — while embracing family, friends and each other. Labatt Blue Light beers were cracked open on the arena floor and eventually sipped from the mouth of the NLL Cup.

“These are moments that you dream of as a kid,” Byrne said. “It was one of those things where it feels speechless. Because it’s so hard to really just like put into words what it feels like. But I mean, I think if you take a camera and you pan around Banditland, you can get a pretty good idea.”

After winning Game 1 on Friday in Albany, it took wins on back-to-back nights to win back-to-back titles. When the arrived at their home arena to see orange rally towels draped over every seat, the players fed off the exuberance in Banditland.

“You step on the floor and you feel that energy, you feel that roar,” Byrne said. “And it’s like you’re fresh and nothing happened last night. You’re just ready to go.”

Chase Fraser led Buffalo’s scoring attack with five goals and two assists. The Bandits got two goals apiece from Tehoka Nanticoke, Chris Cloutier, Brandon Robinson and Smith, who also added five assists to his career playoff tally, an NLL record 125. Byrne, this year’s league MVP, had a goal and eight assists for a team-leading nine points. Matt Vinc made 36 saves.

Kyle Buchanan’s shorthanded, no-look, behind-the-back one-timer two minutes into the game frenzied the crowd and gave the Bandits a lead they would never relinquish. Albany closed out each of the first two quarters with rallies, but Buffalo’s five-goal run in a 5:27 span of the third quarter built a 14-8 advantage that held up against the FireWolves final push in the fourth.

After fans filled Alumni Plaza for a pregame party several hours before the start of Game 2, the Bandits will continue the celebration back downtown at noon Sunday.

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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here .