Buffalo Bandits transition player Mark Steenhuis finished with six goals and four assists Saturday night in the Bandits' 12-10 victory over the Orlando Titans at HSBC Arena.
BANDITS TAKE DOWN FIRST PLACE TITANS, 12-10
Bandits improve to 3-6 as Darris Kilgour ties Les Bartley for most regular season wins
03/06/2010
By Jonathan McGrath for NLL.com
What a day for Buffalo Bandits Head Coach Darris Kilgour. First, and most important, his struggling Bandits (3-6) got a win against a very good Orlando Titans (4-3) team. On top of that, he tied the late Les Bartley for most regular season wins all-time with 93 as the Bandits beat the Titans, 12-10 at HSBC Arena in front of 16,184.
"We put all excuses aside and played together as a team," said Kilgour.
The Bandits would also have the opportunity to get a bitter taste out of their mouth as they hosted the first place Titans. It was the first time these two teams faced off since the Titans sent Buffalo out of the playoffs last season. On top of winning that game, Titans forward Casey Powell knocked Buffalo goalie Ken Montour out of the game (knee injury) after he dove into the crease while taking a shot on goal.
Montour seemed to have redemption on his mind as he made 43 stops on 53 shots against a first place Orlando team.
"Credit to Kenny Montour. He made some once-a-game type saves three or four times tonight" said Orlando Head Coach Ed Comeau. "The wins are high and the losses are low. You can't dwell on them. Either way we have a big weekend next weekend."
Bandits forward John Tavares played like a man possessed. He set the tone early with a physical check on Titans defensemen Greg Peyser that knocked his helmet clean off. The physical play would continue the rest of the contest.
Mark Steenhuis, who finished the game with six goals and four assists, got the scoring started for Buffalo as he ripped a shot over the shoulder of Titans goalie Matt Vinc to give the Bandits a 1-0 lead.
About five minutes later, Steehuis would strike again on a diving shot to make the game 2-0. However, the team's leading scorer was not done as he scored his third goal of the opening period to give himself a natural hat-trick, and his team a 3-0 lead. To cap off the scoring for the first quarter, Bandit forward Jon Harasym would score on a breakaway goal with about a minute left to make the game 4-0.
The second quarter started much like the first, as a hard Bandit check led to a scuffle between the two teams. This led to a fight between Buffalo defensemen Kyle Schmezle and Titans defensemen Chet Koneczy, who both got five-minute fighting penalties. Less than a minute later, Orlando got on the board with two quick goals from their leading scorer Casey Powell, who finished the game with four goals and one assist, to make the game 4-2.
The Bandits, however, would stop the Titans momentum as Steenhuis answered on the power play. This was followed by a goal from rookie Kyle Clancy, who was a healthy scratch for the Bandits last week, to make the score 6-2.
With 4:47 left in the half, Steenhuis would get his fifth goal of the game on an assist from Tavares, making the score 7-2. Clancy then broke loose to score his second goal of the night on the breakaway, giving the Bandits a six goal lead. Orlando would cut into that lead with a Mike McLellan goal, making the score 8-3 at halftime.
Orlando scored the first three goals of the second half starting with a power play goal from Powell. This was followed by both Bill Greer and Pat Maddalena's first goals of the contest, cutting the Bandits' lead to two. Steenhuis got on the board again with his sixth of the night on a strong take to the left side of the net to retake a three-goal lead to end the third quarter.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Titans forward Jordan Hall scored his first goal of the season to make the score 10-8. To take back the three-goal lead, Clancy set up teammate Kevin Dostie for his first of the night. Orlando would answer again as Powell would score his fourth goal of the night by ripping a shot over the shoulder of Buffalo's Montour. Late in the quarter, the Bandits' Mike Accursi scooped up a rebound and scored to make the score 12-9. Buffalo would hold on to its lead, making the final score 12-10, and giving the team its third win of the season.
Kilgour believed that this was a big win.
"We held our composure and pulled it out. It was a big win for us," said Kilgour.
Buffalo will have a busy weekend ahead, as it will play back-to-back road games on Friday and Saturday. The team will play in Toronto on Friday night, travel back to Buffalo after the game, and depart for Boston on Saturday morning. Both contests are set for a 7:30pm ET start. Orlando will make the trip back home to host the Philadelphia Wings next Friday night at 7:35pm EST.
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