They did it. After losing in both of the last two finals, the Buffalo Bandits got that monkey off their backs and won their first NLL Championship in 15 years. And after a very close game one and losing big in game two, they did it in convincing fashion, destroying the Colorado Mammoth 13-4 in Game three. After losing in their own building to these same Mammoth in game three of last year’s final, the Bandits had no intention of having history repeat itself this year.

The Bandits had everything working in this game, from the goaltending on out. Matt Vinc played one of the best playoff games of his career, which is saying something considering he’s played almost twice as many playoff games (45) than the next highest goalie (Mike Poulin with 26). The Bandits defense was unbelievable, their transition was working, and their offense had Dillon Ward’s number. Their best players were their best players, including Vinc, Priolo, and MacKay on the back end of the floor, and series MVP Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne picking up 9 and 7 points respectively. After picking up 17 penalties for 42 PIM in game two, they had a total of two minor penalties in game three, half of what the Mammoth had. The Bandits basically played the perfect playoff game. OK, that’s probably hyperbole but not much.

After missing Games one and two, Josh Byrne returned to the lineup and had the effect you expected him to have, and also an effect you might not have expected. Obviously he’s an offensive superstar, and his four goals and three assists were critical. No offense to Dylan Robinson who replaced Byrne in games one and two, but Byrne’s presence also forced the Mammoth D to focus more on him than they did Robinson, which took a little bit of focus away from Chase Fraser, Chris Cloutier, and Tehoka Nanticoke, each of whom picked up three points. The one effect we might not have expected was that Byrne’s presence on the offensive line allowed Ian MacKay to return to playing defense. Make no mistake, MacKay is a very good offensive player but he’s an even better defensive player, so Josh Byrne’s return actually made Buffalo’s defense better.

And their defense was amazing. Like I said, Matt Vinc played an excellent game but Buffalo’s defense was as good as they’ve been all season. They only had six blocked shots to Colorado’s ten, and only four caused turnovers to Colorado’s five, but the Bandits were very good at both preventing shots entirely and limiting the Mammoth’s shot selection. By the third quarter, the Mammoth were taking whatever shots they could, regardless of what angle they were from or from how far away. They tried a few cross-crease dives and behind-the-net dunks, but most of them were turned aside and there was even one or two Mammoth players alone with the ball on the edge of the crease who were stopped by Vinc as well. In the end, Lee, Williams, Kinnear, and Gibson combined for zero goals. Four goals is the lowest score ever in an NLL finals game.

Note that the Mammoth didn’t play terribly. The Bandits defense + Vinc were just too much for Colorado’s offense, and the Mammoth only managed a single goal in each quarter. Colorado’s defense played well and Dillon Ward made some typical Dillon Ward saves, but Buffalo’s ball movement was a well-oiled machine so there were some goals that Ward just had no chance on.

This is Matt Vinc’s first title with the Bandits, and his first since 2014 with the Rochester Knighthawks. Obviously Vinc had lost the previous two finals (2022, 2019) along with the rest of the Bandits, but he went to the finals with the Knighthawks in 2018 when they lost to the Rush, so Vinc had lost in three straight finals. The only other player on the Bandits who’d ever won a title was Ethan O’Connor, who won with the Swarm in 2017. You gotta feel good for the long-time Bandits who had never won, guys like Smith, Steve Priolo, and Nick Weiss, as well as someone like Kyle Buchanan, who has been around the league for ten seasons but had also never won.

You also can’t help but be moved by Tehoka Nanticoke’s raw emotions both before and after the game. He grew up watching and cheering for the Bandits, he was a ball boy as a kid, and finally was drafted to his favourite team. Then last year he had the chance to win a Championship with the Bandits and had his hopes dashed. But this season he played a pivotal role in getting them back to the finals and in the deciding game itself. It was literally a dream come true for Nanticoke.

I love a Cinderella story as much as the next guy, so the plucky Mammoth taking out the Roughnecks and Seals before beating the heavily favoured Bandits last year was a great story. But for it to happen two years straight was unlikely, even if everything leading up to game three was the same for the Mammoth (other than beating the Western opponents in the opposite order). In this case, the best team in the regular season was also the best team in the playoffs. Congratulations to the Buffalo Bandits on their Championship.

As I do at the end of every season, I want to thank you, Constant Reader, for reading the stuff I post here. You might not agree with everything I write (or anything I write), and I don’t expect you to, but thanks for reading it anyway. If you responded via a Twitter response or RT, a Facebook or blog comment, an email, or even just a Like somewhere, thanks for that as well, as more interactions are more fun. Have a great summer, enjoy the PLL, MSL, WLA, and whatever other lacrosse you watch / coach / play, and we’ll see you back here for the 2024 NLL season.

May your Awesomes be many and your Not Awesomes be few.