Buffalo seals dynasty with historic NLL three-peat

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Bandits went into halftime watching their four-point lead reduced to one with the National Lacrosse League championship on the line.

But in the second half of Saturday's decisive Game 3, the competitive drama all but evaporated en route to history. The Bandits scored eight straight, building a gap that proved insurmountable and running away with a 15-6 win over the Saskatchewan Rush in front of a spirited "Banditland" crowd decked out in orange.

The Bandits captured their third consecutive NLL championship, joining the Rochester Knighthawks (2012-14) as the only teams in league history to accomplish the feat. The win also clinched a seventh title for the Bandits, the most in NLL history, surpassing the Philadelphia Wings and the Toronto Rock.

During this three-year title streak, the Bandits, led by coach and legendary former Buffalo player John Tavares, have not lost a postseason game at home, and that trend continued Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 19,070. The Bandits are 7-7 in the finals.

Saturday's win came with some strong goaltending from Matt Vinc. The Rush had 48 shots on goal compared with 53 for Buffalo, but Vinc, who also was part of Rochester's three-peat, did not allow a second-half goal.

The NLL final matched the two top seeds, who finished the regular season with matching 13-5 records. The Rush forced Game 3 after rallying for an 11-10 win in last Sunday's Game 2. The Bandits won the opener 12-10.

In the previous two games, the Rush jumped to early leads, starting Game 1 up 2-0 and Game 2 with a 3-0 lead. That pattern continued Saturday, as Saskatchewan scored just 24 seconds into the game, but the Bandits tied the score less than three minutes later and ended the first quarter tied at 3-3.

The Bandits came out hot in the second quarter, going on a run and scoring four straight goals in the first five minutes of the quarter to take a 7-3 lead. Two of the goals in that run were by 2024 MVP forward Josh Byrne, who finished with four goals and nine points.

The Rush, however, responded with a three-goal run of their own to go into halftime down 7-6. Then the Bandits' dominant third quarter came, with each goal well documented by the fans, who chant the number of goals scored after each point.

Buffalo took a 13-6 third-quarter lead and never looked back.